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Missionary Entertainments 



FOR 



TKe Junior Missionary Society 



AND 



TKe Sunday School 



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PuKlisKed by TKe Sunday 
ScKool Supply Department 

SMITH & LAMAR 
NasKville :-: Tennessee 



15 vA"- 



SIGHT 5 



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PREFACE. 

Many of the numbers contained in this book of missionary 
entertainments have been gleaned from the best published 
by other Boards. For the unfailing courtesy of these Boards, 
we wish to express our appreciation. 

Other numbers have appeared in the past few years in the 
Young Christian Worker: while still others are being printed 
for the first time. Especial mention is due Miss Alleine Fridy, 
one of the assistants in our office, for the splendid work done 
in numbers of the dramatizations herein contained. 

The recitations and exercises are intended for primary and 
junior children, while the seventeen dramatizations, repre- 
senting all the mission fields in which our Church is working, 
require for their presentation boys and girls of all ages. 

This book has been written, compiled, and edited in the 
Educational Department of the Woman's Missionary Council 
and published by the Department of Sunday School Supplies. 

Sara Estelle Haskin, 
Educational Secretary in Charge of Literature. 



CONTENTS. 

Recitations and Exercises for Primary Children. 

Sunrise Cradles 7 

Who Is the Queerest? 8 

Willing Helpers 8 

Five Little Pennies 9 

Ten Little Fingers 9 

For Want of— 10 

Sing a Song of Thank You 10 

Little Boy Blue 11 

Little Bo-Peep 11 

Missionary Pennies 12 

Weighing the Baby 13 

Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes 15 

Recitations and Exercises for Juniors. 

A Bag of Wishes 17 

The Little Maids of Far Japan 19 

Soldiers of the Cross 21 

A Sanitation Song 23 

A Health Acrostic 24 

God Wants the Boys and Girls 24 

Centenary Hymn 25 

Growing Smiles. 26 

Lullabies 26 

My Mite Box 31 

Miss America's Money 32 

The Missionary Dollar 35 

Dramatizations. 

Precious Flower and the Flies 39 

Lighting Candles Around the World 48 

The Great Guest Comes 55 

Finding the House of Brotherly Love 58 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



All Along the Trail 67 

The Garden of Children 71 

Waiting for the Doctor 77 

The Call of Africa , 83 

The Lonesome Little Dorothy 86 

Cuba Libre 95 

Maria 100 

Sick in China 108 

Lupe's Strange Holidays 117 

Young Christian Worker Friends 121 

The Mayflower Festival, or the Beautiful Surprise 129 

Love Gifts at Smithsville 145 

Why Didn't You Tell? 154 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAIN- 

MENTS. 



RECITATIONS AND EXERCISES FOR PRI- 
MARY CHILDREN. 

SUNRISE CRADLES. 

The queerest of cradles in all the wide world 

Is found on the back of a Japanese girl, 

Where held by a girdle wrapped around and around 

A dear little Japanese baby is found. 

There sitting as happy as any young king, 
And rolling his head with her small body's swing; 
Or eating his taffy-on-stick, will he be 
Seen shaking his rattle in babyish glee. 

When sleepy time comes with a wail or a cry 
Then sister jumps up as she sings lullaby, 
And up and down, up and down bobbing she goes, 
Till baby's eyes droop for a soft slumber's close. 

And then though his sister returns to her play, 
His brown head still nodding in every which way, 
He sleeps just as sweetly all perched in the air 
As other small babies attended with care. 

-From "Japan Jingles and Other Poems." Courtesy of Presbyterian Church in 
U.S. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



WHO IS THE QUEEREST? 

Little Wing Hung Lee Foo Li 

Says, "Good-by, my dears, good-by," 
In his funny, little, choppy, Chinese way; 

And he hopes that you will come 

When his mother is at home, 
Some other bright and sunny day. 

His gown seems queer to you, 

His umbrella and his queue 
(The plait of hair that's hanging down his back) ; 

But he would not wish to change, 

For he thinks you are just as strange 
With your hat of straw and shoes that you must black. 

And the words he hears you say 

Seem to him a funny way 
To tell things that you wish your friends to hear. 

So you see that while you're right 

In this country, still you might 
In China find they thought you something queer. 

— Selected. 

WILLING HELPERS. 

An Exercise for four children. 
First Child. 

A little brook sang on its winding way, 

"I give as I go, I go;" 
Then it sprinkled the dusty grass and flow'rs 

With its cool and sparkling flow. 

Second Child. 

A little bird sang in a treetop high, 

"I give of my best, my best;" 
And its song so sweet cheered a weary heart, 

And brought to it peace and rest. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 9 

Third Child. 
A violet grew by a dusty road. 

"I'll give of my sweet, my sweet," 
It said; and its perfume floated out, 

Each sorrowful soul to greet. 

Fourth Child. 
A little girl dropped with a tender prayer 

Her pennies so dear, so dear, 
In the mission box, that some heathen child 

Of the blessed Lord might hear. 

All in Unison. 
Willing helpers of Jesus we all may be, 

If we gladly give our best ; 
Though little the gifts, the dear Lord will know, - 
And his love will do the rest. 

— Lizziz De Armond. 

— From "Missionary Gems." Courtesy of Woman's American Baptist Foreign 
Missionary Society. 

FIVE LITTLE PENNIES. 

One little penny went for a plum; 

One little penny bought chewing gum; 

One little penny rolled out of sight; 

One little penny got peppermints white; 

This little penny sings, "Goody, goody, goody," 

All the way down to my thank offering box. 

— Selected. 

TEN LITTLE FINGERS. 

Only ten little fingers! 

[Holds them up] 

Not very strong, 'tis true; 
Yet there is work for Jesus 
Such little hands may do. 



10 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

What though it be but humble, 

Winning no word of praise; 
We are but little children, 

Working in little ways. 

Only ten little fingers! 

But little things may grow, 
And lLtle hands now helpless 

Will not be always so. 
And if we train them early 

Unto his work alone 
They will do greater service 

When they are stronger grown. 

— Selected. 



FOR WANT OF— 

For want of a cent, the dime was lost; 
For want of the dime, the dollar was lost; 
For want of the dollar, the Bible was lost; 
For want of the Bible the Christ was lost; 
For want of the Christ, the country was lost; 
For want of the country, the world was lost; 
For want of the world, the kingdom was lost — 
And all for the want of a copper cent. 

— Alleine Fridy. 



SING A SONG OF THANK YOU. 

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, 
Four and twenty blackbirds baked into a pie; 
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing. 
Now, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a king? 

Sing a song of Thank-you, for lives so full of cheer, 
Two and fifty joy weeks crammed into a year; 
As the weeks are passing, surely we should bring 
Offerings so gladly to place before our King. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 11 

Sing a song of Thank-you, jingling boxes pink, 
Four and twenty Juniors, a pretty sight I think; 
When each box was opened the coins seemed to sing. 
O, was not this an offering fit to place before our King? 

Sing a song of Thank-you, as we send to-day 
Four and twenty dollars, speeding on their way; 
Take them safe to Egypt, to India, and Sudan, 
Use them in our homeland to carry out God's plan. 

Sing a song of Thank-you, for there's One who will 

Multiply our offerings many times until 

Like the loaves and fishes the little lad did bring, 

They'll feed a hungry multitude, by the blessing of our King. 

— Permission of Woman's General Missionary Society, United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. 

LITTLE BOY BLUE. 

O little Boy Blue, come blow your horn 

And waken the Juniors this bright New Year morn; 

The Lord of the harvest has sent out a call. 

"Go work in my vineyard," he says to them all. 

Blow long and blow loud, O little Boy Blue, 

For the work is so great and the workers so few; 

And out in the darkness lost in the cold, 

The Shepherd has lambs to be brought to the fold. 

And, little Boy Blue, be sure you make clear 

That the Juniors are wanted this very New Year, 

For the Captain depends on the young and the brave 

To help him to conquer, to seek, and to save. 

— H. W. 
'—Permission of Woman's General Missionary Society, United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. 

LITTLE BO-PEEP. 

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep, 

She can't tell where to find it; 
Leave it alone, and it will come home 

And bring its tail behind it. 



12 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Little Bo-Peep has found her sheep, 

Her father's going to shear it; 
The wool on its back will fill a big sack 

And sell for two dollars or near it. 

Says little Bo-Peep: "How much shall I keep 
Of the money my sheep has brought us, 

And how much shall go that more children may know 
About the Good Shepherd who sought us? " 

-Permission of Woman's General Missionary Society, United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. 



MISSIONARY PENNIES. 

By a very little girl, who drops four pennies into a missionary barrel as she 
repeats the last verse. 

Where did my pennies come from? 

Let me count them — one, two, three, four. 
One is for always rememb'ring 

To shut the pantry door; 
Two is for minding the baby — 

Our dear little cunning Ted; 
Three is for not interrupting 

What the grown-up people said; 
Four is what Uncle John gave me 

When I bumped me and didn't cry. 
If some of you think it was easy, 

I only wish you would try. 

What shall I do with my pennies? 

There are candies and toys, I know, 
And the children can always tell 

How quickly the pennies go. • 

But this gift box seems always saying: 
"Give your pennies to me, my dear, 

And send them across the ocean, 

That the heathen God's word may hear." 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 13 

I know they are only pennies, 

I know they are few and small 
But I'll send a wee prayer along with them, 
And the gift box shall have them all. 

— Jessie H. Brown. 
— From "Missionary Gems." Courtesy of Woman's American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society. 

WEIGHING THE BABY. 
A Suggestion for a Cradle Roll Reception. 

The baby is brought to the front of the room, and six of the oldest Beginners 
gather around, reciting the poem. The verses may be recited by an older girl 
assisting with the little people, or they may be printed or copied on the recep- 
tion invitation. For a boy baby, change the pronoun and omit the "Fourth 
Chlid." 

First Child. 

A penny a pound for the baby, 

The baby not two years old; 
Though we know that every baby 

Is worth its weight in gold. 

Second Child. 

A penny a pound for the baby; 

Suppose she'd been born in Spain? 
She'd be taught her prayers on a rosary 

The hope of heaven to gain. 

Third Child. 

A penny a pound for the baby 

In the Land of the Rising Sun, 
The babies and wee little children 

Are said to have plenty of fun. 

But their mothers don't tell them of Jesus; 

They hear not the sweet story of old, 
While we count the soul of our baby 

More precious than silver or gold. 



14 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Fourth Child. 

A penny a pound for the baby, 

So dainty and fresh and sweet; 
From the crown of her head she's precious 

To the toes of her little feet. 

But those little feet in China 

Would be bound and cramped so small 

She could not run as we do, 
But only stumble and fall. 

They think it right to do it, 

Because 'tis their custom old; 
So they torture the feet of the children, 

And call them "lilies of gold." 

Fifth Child. 

A penny a pound for the baby; 

In India far away 
Are many starving babies 

Who cry for us to-day. 

Our babies here can help them, 

Though not yet two years old; 
For love will make their pennies 

Worth all their weight in gold. 

Sixth Child. 
Stepping forward to receive money. 

Then come and weigh the baby, 

And soon may the story be to'd 
In the love of our Saviour all babies 

Are worth their weight in gold. 

— From "Missionary Program Material." By Anita B. Ferris. Copyright oy 
Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada. Used by 
permission. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 15 



CHINESE MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES. 

Arranged for three primary girls with dolls. If possible, the dolls should be 
Chinese, or American dolls dressed in Chinese clothing, their hair arranged in 
Chinese fashion or covered with caps. It might also be effective to have the 
little girls dressed in Chinese costume. 

First Girl. 

[Taking the doll's foot and pretending to pull each little toe in turn as an 
American mother does with her baby when she recites "This Little Pig. "] 

This little cow eats grass, 
This little cow eats hay, 
This little cow drinks water, 
This little cow runs away, 
This little cow does nothing 
Except lie down all day. 
We'll whip her. 
[With last line she playfully pats the foot of the doll.] 

Second Girl. 
[Pretending in the last part of the stanza to teach her doll to walk.] 
You dear little baby, 

Don't you cry; 
Your father's drawing water 

In the South near by. 
A red-tasseled hat 

He wears on his head. 
Your mother's in the kitchen, 

Making up bread. 
Walk a step, walk a step, 

Off he goes; 
See from his shoe tips 

Peep three toes. 

Third Girl. 

[Rocking her doll in her arms.] 
My baby is sleeping; 

My baby's asleep. 
My flower is resting; 



-i^g^LENTER T AINMENTS 

I'll give you a peep. 
How cunning he looks 

As he rests on my arm! 
My flower's most charming 

Of all them that charm. 

To Be Used as a Recitation. 
There was a little girl 

Who would run upon the street. 
5>he took rice and changed it 

For good things to eat. 

Her mother lost control of her 

Until she found her feet; 
But now she's just as good a girl 

As you will ever meet. 

I water the flowers; I water the flowers- 
I water them morning and evening hours- 
I never wait till the flowers are dry 
I water them e'er the sun is high ' 
A basin of water, a basin of tea- 

lifz *)* fl r ers; theyVe ° pe - ;in ^ y° u ^ 

A basin of water, another beside 

I water the flowers; they 're op'ning wide. 

Ferris. ™<"fr°m Mtsstonary Program Material.". By Anita 



RECITATIONS AND EXERCISES FOR 
JUNIORS. 

A BAG OF WISHES. 

For children from six to nine years of age. Each draws a slip, and the leader 
calls the number, so that they may be given in short order, though those 
on the platform may not respond in the order in which they stand. 

[This exercise requires six members of the society. The leader should carry a 
bag containing five slips upon which the five wishes are written very plainly. 
Those taking part should have a chance to read over all the slips beforehand, 
in order to give any of them readily. After the leader's introduction each of the 
five may draw a slip from the bag and read in turn, the leader giving the appro- 
priate reply. These replies should be committed to memory; but if this cannot 
be done easily, they may be read from the paper, with the air of reading an im- 
portant discourse. In conclusion the slips may be gathered into the bags again 
and all may join in singing the closing hymn.] 

The Leader holding out her bag. 

I've a bag of wishes, as you all may see; 
Missionary wishes, they appear to be. 
Where you dropped, I gathered what you here behold; 
Maybe you will read them as they are unrolled. 
Each of you may draw one; read, and you will see 
What these various wishes in my bag may be. 

Number One. 

I wish I were rich! If I'd plenty of money, 

I'd give to the needy and make their lives sunny. 

Reply. 

Beware of such wishes, so smooth and so stealthy; 
O listen, my dears, do not wait to be wealthy: 
Give now what you have to bring joy to the sad; 
A cup of cold water may make a heart glad. 
2 



18 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Number Two. 

I wish I were great! O the good I would do! 

I would use all my powers to help the work through. 

Reply. 
Well, how do you know that you would, may I a k? 
Just prove it by now doing each little task. 

Number Three. 
I wish I were big, and could go to far lands, 
To carry the gospel, as Jesus commands! 

Reply. 
Don't waste time in wishing, but just as you are, 
Do what you can now for the people afar. 
You can pray, you can give, you can learn what they need; 
And while you are growing, do many a deed. 

Number Four. 
I wish that all people knew more of the need 
Of millions of souls that for knowledge still plead. 

Reply. 
Well, what are you doing to make them know more? 
Do you tell your next neighbor what you've heard before? 

Number Five. 
I wish that more workers were ready to go 
To help the great world that continues to grow! 

Reply. 
For those waiting to go, pray, how much will you do? 
Are you getting ready, if God should call you? 
Ah! wishes, good wishes, should grow to good deeds, 
That the world may be helped in its piteous needs. 
Don't spend time in wishing, if aught you can do; 
Don't leave it to others; the Master calls you. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 19 

The wishes are good, if they prove to be seeds, 
Which, planted and watered, grow up to good deeds. 
I'll gather them up and take care of them, too; 
You must do what you can to make them come true. 

(After dropping slips again into the bag all join in singing to 
the air, "I think when I read that sweet story of old.") 

I wish, yes, I wish that the Saviour I love 

Would help me and guide me each day: 
And that I might be able to share in the wo k 

Of showing the lost ones the way. 
O this wish of my heart is a prayer unto him; 

I know he will hear it above; 
And may all his dear children be faithful and true 

And spread the glad news of his love! 

— Julia H. Johnston, in ''Over Sea and Land." Courtesy of Woman's American 
Baptist Home Mission Society. 



THE LITTLE MAIDS OF FAR JAPAN. 
(For six girls six to ten years of age.) 
First Girl. 

The little maids of far Japan 

Have eyes of jetty black, 
And ebon locks all held in place 

By pins crossed in the back; 
They wear kimonos made of silk, 

And gay with Eastern dyes, 
Their satin girdles spread behind 

Like gorgeous butterflies. 

Second Girl. 



The Httle maids of far Japan 

Are quiet and discreet; 
They wear shoe mittens in the house, 

Straw sandals on the street. 



20 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

They have deep pockets to their dress — 

I'm sure you'll not believe 
How cakes and toys or perfumed things 

They carry in their sleeve. 

Third Girl. 

The little maids of far Japan 

Are wonderfully polite, 
Although they never shake your hand 

They bow with all their might. 
Their teacher bows to them at school 

The children bow again, 
And then the teacher bows once more 

Before the school begins. 

Fourth Girl. 

The little maids of far Japan 

They drink tea o'er and o'er, 
Within a house where soft straw mats 
. Are spread upon the floor. 
They hold their pretty paper fans 

In smart, coquettish ways, 
And find, for passing simple gifts, 

They make the best of trays. 

Fifth Girl. 

The little maids of far Japan 

Use fine, high-sounding talk; 
They say, "O, may we condescend 

To take an august walk?" 
They call their hostess "honorable" 

When sweetmeats they receive, 
And wrap in paper a small part 

To take home in their sleeve. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 21 



Sixth Girl. 

The little maids of far Japan 

Have many childish joys, 
And play with dolls or drums and flags — 

Their land is one of toys. 
Their cheeks hold rare old ivory tints, 

Their teeth are orient pearls, 
And yet they play in their own way 

Like other happy girls. 

-From "Normal Instructor and Primary Plans. " By permission of F. A. Owen 
Publishing Company. 



SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS. 

For eight boys six to eight years of age. Each boy holds aloft a letter, the 
total spells the word "Soldier. " An attractive background should be arranged 
in which there is a large cross and blue flags marked with a white cross. 

First Boy. 

S I will state in my first line 

Is but a very simple sign 
That we are soldiers of the Cross, 
And faithful followers fear no loss. 

Second Boy. 

O tells us many things to-day 

The Bible says we must obey; 

And when we do both good and right 

We always have a winning fight. 

Third Boy. 

L stands for loyalty and love. 

We bear unto our Lord above; 
We hope to make alike the same 
More children loyal to his name. 



22 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Fourth Boy. 
D is for duty, daily done, 

A great work that for any one; 
We hope to do our very best, 
Then leave to Jesus all the rest. 

Fifth Boy. 
I may appear a little late 

In this great world called "Imitate," 

By doing this we hope to find 

Our Saviour's service true and kind. 

Sixth Boy. 
E is no useless, childish toy; 

It brings you something to enjoy; 
It makes the Sabbath school a field 
Where evil foemen soon will yield. 

Seventh Boy. 
R is for rout; we never run 

Until our soldier work is done; 
As conquerors we hope to stand 
In peace at last in Zion's land. 

Eighth Boy. 
S comes once more to bid you stay, 

A few words more we have to say; 
Look on these soldiers here to-night 
With hearts aglow and faces bright. 
We are too few, and many more 
Are idle all about your door; 
Bring in recruits without delay; 
We'll help bring in a better day. 

All. 
We are brave soldiers of the Cross, 
And faithful followers fear no loss. 

— From " Japan Jingles and Other Poems. " Courtesy of Presbyterian Church in 
U.S. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 23 

A SANITATION SONG. 
(To the tune of "I Want to Be an Angel. ") 

I. 

We want to sing a little 

Of sanitation too. 
There are lots of rules that tell you 

Just what you ought to do. 

First you must be quite careful 

To open the windows wide 
And let the sunshine enter 

Wherever germs may hide. 



II. 

Then flies are very dangerous; 

They carry germs galore. 
Be sure they do not enter 

At window or at door. 
Mosquitoes bring malaria; 

Beware of them also. 
For chills are sure to follow 

Where'er mosquitoes go. 

III. 

Our homes should always be clean 

And the streets as well, we say, 
For flies like dirty places. 

"Clean up, clean up," we say. 
When homes and streets are clean and nice, 

Disease will stay away 
And every one be healthy 

Forever and a day. 

— Used in Virginia School, Huchow, China. 



24 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

A HEALTH ACROSTIC. 

S is for Safety from germs and disease; 
We all can have it if only we please. 
A is for Air, which should be fresh and sweet, 
In mansion or cottage or on the street. 
N is for Night, the time we rest; 

You must open your windows if you wish to sleep best. 
I is the Inside of the house where we stay; 
It should always be clean, both night and day. 
T is for Table, where flies like to go; 
You must drive them away, or disease they'll bestow. 
A is for all. Yes, every one 
Can help in this work that it may be done. 
T is the task which we all love to do, 
To keep things clean and sanitary too. 
I is the interest which we all shall have 
In spreading the knowledge which our lives may save. 
O is for Oxygen, which we need every minute. 
Keep your air fresh, and there'll be plenty in it. 
N is for Nation, for whose sake we work. 
In cleaning up China no work will we shirk 
—Used in Virginia School, Euchow, China. 

GOD WANTS THE BOYS AND GILRS. 

God wants the boys, the merry, merry boys, 
The noisy boys, the funny boys, 

The thoughtless boys. 
God wants the boys with all their joys, 
That he as gold may make them pure, 
And teach them trials to endure. 

His heroes brave 
He'd have them be, 

Fighting for truth 
And purity. 
God wants the boys. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 25 

God wants the happy-hearted girls, 
The loving girls, the best of girls, 

The worst of girls; 
He wants to make the girls his pearls, 
And so reflect his holy face, 
And bring to mind his wondrous grace, 

That beautiful 

The world may be, 

And filled with love 
And purity. 
God wants the girls. 

—From ' 'Missionary Program Material. " By A nita Ferris. Copyright, by M is- 
sionary Education Movement of the United Stales and Canada. Used by per- 
mission. 

CENTENARY HYMN. 

Lift up your eyes, behold the fires 
Of those who blazed the pilgrim way; 

See how the Lord hath led our sires 
Through all the century to our day. 

Lift up your hands and grace implore, 
That we, like them, may valiant be, 

Preaching the word from shore to shore 
Till all mankind in Christ be free. 



Lift up your voice with glad acclaim, 
Tell to the world Messiah's birth, 

Till every land shall sing his fame, 
His scepter rule o'er all the earth. 

Lift up the cross, the crimson throne 
Whereon the Lord of life hath died 

That God for man might sin atone 
And conquer all our hate and pride. 



26 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Lift up the Christ, the glorious King 
Whose truth and love shall ever reign; 

Crown him; let all the nations sing 

His name whose power shall never wane. 

— Rev. J. E. Crowther. 

GROWING SMILES. 
A smile is quite a funny thing; 

It wrinkles up your face; 
And when it's gone you never find 

Its secret hiding place. 

But far more wonderful it is 

To see what smiles can do. 
You smile at some one, he smiles at you, 

And so one smile makes two. 

He smiles at some one, since you smiled, 

And then that one smiles back; 
And that one smiles, until, in truth, 

You fail in keeping track. 

And since a smile can do great good 

By cheering hearts of care, 
Let's smile and smile and not forget 

That smiles go everywhere. — Beacon. 

LULLABIES. 

Dress a number of little girls six to nine years of age who can sing or recite 
well, so as to suggest a few of the different races in our own country. 

For an Indian mother, dress a dark-haired girl in a bright flannel skirt, a 
oose waist, and tan bicycle leggins to imitate moccasins. She may wear beads 
on her neck and at her belt. Her hair should hang loose, fastened only by a 
string tied around her neck. Her doll should be wrapped in tiny blankets and 
laid in an Indian baby basket. This can be made of one flat board, on which 
the doll is laced by a leather cord, and straps fasten the baby basket to the little 
mother's back, coming over the shoulders, crossing in front, and tying in the 
back. 

The colored race may be represented by a little colored girl carrying a colored 
dollie in her arms. Do not blacken the face of the child. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 27 



For the Bohemians let a fair-haired girl, wearing a blue gingham dress, white 
apron, and hair in two long braids, carry a doll in a long white dress. 

The Mexican mother can wear a red calico dress with a black shawl draped 
cornerwise over her head. Her doll is in a baby basket similar to the Indian's, 
but has a roof made of a circular piece of cardboard over the head of the board 
to keep the sunlight from the baby's eyes. It may be covered with glove kid to 
imitate deer skin. Beads and buttons hang down from the roof to be played 
with. 

The Eskimo mother is dressed in a fur suit, and her doll is wrapped in furs 
similar to her own. 

The Chinese mother wears a loose gown with flowing sleeves of any gay Chi- 
nese material that may be found in the dry goods store. A real Chinese doll 
would add to the effect. 

Then the four or five little girls dress as happy New England mothers, with 
dainty dolls in long white dresses. 

Let a tiny rocking-chair be placed on the stage for each child except the In- 
dian and Mexican. They should enter, walking slowly and swinging their dolls 
gently in their arms in time to the tune, "My Old Kentucky Home." After 
walking once about the stage they seat themselves, the Indian and Mexican sit- 
ting, one on a log, the other on a stone covered with a bright Indian blanket. 
All rock their dolls, and the little white mothers sing the well-known lullaby: 

Sweet and low, sweet and low, 
Wind of the Western sea. 

At the close of this song the Indian mother rises and, walking back and forth, 
sings to the same tune: 

Sweet and low, sweet and low, 

Wind of the Eastern sea; 
Low, low, breathe and blow, 

Wind from the Eastern sea. 

Over the rolling prairie go, 
Tell me again so soft and low, 

Some body cares for me, 
While my little one, while my 

Pretty one sleeps. 

Some one has loved us and died for us, too; 

Some one is building a home for you, 

Little brown baby mine, 

While my little one, while my pretty one sleeps. 

After a short interlude, in which they all rock their dolls, the little colored 
mother sings, rocking in time to the tune "'Way Down upon the Swannee Ribber." 



28 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Hush-a-by, my little pickaninny, 

Sleep, doncher cry; 
Bright times is comin', pickaninny, 

Comin' in de by and by. 

Chorus. 
O, de way was hard and dreary, 

Ebery day was long; 
Now help is comin' through de darkness 

From our bruders good and strong. 

Far, far beyond de Swanee Riber 

Shines, shines a light; 
God's love in bruder's hearts' a-burnin', 

Brightnin' up de long, long night. 

Chorus. 
Hush-a-by, my little pickaninny, 

Sleep, doncher cry; 
Mammy's got you safe, and somehow 

T'ings look better for de by and by. 

The Bohemian mother now rocks her doll and sings (tune, "Old Oaken 
Bucket"): 

We have come from our home far across the blue waters, 

To live in a land filled with freedom and light. 
They call us their sisters, their country's own daughters, 

We are strangers no longer. Sleep, baby, good night. 
We knew not their ways, and we knew not their worship, 

They taught us their Father is our Father, too. 
Sleep sweetly, my wee one, though far from our homeland, 

We're strangers no longer. Sleep baby, good night. 

The Chinese mother sings to the tune, "Lightly Row," trotting her doll on 
her knee: 

By la by, by la by, Teenie Weenie shut her eye; 

By la by, by la by, shut her little eye. 
Mission school will show the way Melican people live to-day; 

By la by, by la by, shut her little eye. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 29 

Sleepy O, sleepy O, in the mission school we go; 

Sleepy O, Sleepy O, in the school we go; 
Clothes and food and braided hair, all Chinee, but never care; 

Sleepy O, sleepy O, in the school we go. 

The Mexican mother now rises and walks back and forth across the stage, 
singing or reciting to the tune, "Farewell Forever, " found in " College Songs of 
American Colleges": 

O lullaby, lullaby, sweet Babinito, 

Sleep softly, thou baby mine, 
While sunbeams and shadows 
Fly o'er dark mountains, 

Bright rays in the valley shine 
As far as the light of the sun in our dwellings 
Is shining the light of God's love in our hearts. 

Chorus 
Sleep Babinito, sleep, baby mine, 
Golden the sunbeams over thee shine. 
No royal cradle fairer than thine, 
Guarded by angels near. 

O lullaby, sweet Babinito, 

Sleep softly, thou baby dear. 
The clouds on the mountains, 
The breeze in the valleys, 

Have carried the tidings here. 
A Father is ours who has never forgotten; 
He sends us the rains and the flowers and the 
dew. 

After the Indian and Mexican lullaby let the dolls be slipped from the baby 
baskets and held in the arms of the little mothers. 
The little Eskimo mother now sings or recites to the tune of " Bonnie Doon": 

O cold is the snow blowing o'er the white mountains, 

And cold is the wind from the icy sea, 
The white bears are sleeping all through the dark 
winter; 

Sleep longer, my child, it is better for thee. 



30 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

O sleep, my child, the white snowflakes falling 

Are soft like the wings of a summer dove. 
Somewhere, they say, there are wings of white angels. 

Somewhere there is summer and sunshine and love. 

In closing let all the children rise and sing the following motion song to the 
tune, "Here we go round the mulberry bush." 
Hold the dolls in a caressing way in both arms. 

Mothers love their children dear, children dear, children 

dear, 
Mothers love their children dear, the same all over the 

country. 

Shake finger at doll's forehead. 

Mothers make their children mind, children mind, children 
mind, 

Mothers make their children mind, the same all over the coun- 
try. 

Toss dolls over the heads, 

Mothers play with their children dear, children dear, children 

dear, 
Mothers play with their children dear, the same all over the 

country. 

Hold dolls by both arms, their feet on the floor. 

Little feet must learn to walk, learn to walk, learn to walk, 
Little feet must learn to walk, the same all over the country. 

Rock dolls back and forth in the arms. 

They rock-a-by babies to hush-a-by land, hush-a-by land, 

hush-a-by land, 
They rock-a-by babies to hush-a-by land, the same all over 

the country. 

The tune now changes to "Old Kentucky Home," and they all walk slowly 
across and off the stage in the same manner in which they entered. 
— Courtesy of Woman's Home Missionary Association. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 31 



MY MITE BOX. 

[Group of children enter from both sides. Leaders have Junior 
Missionary and American flags, respectively. Introduce a simple drill 
as children sing, "O Zion, Haste," coming to halt alongside of stage so that 
vacant space in center forms a pyramid, apex to back. Leaders stand in center, 
with flags crossed. Enter Junior dressed as pansy, who stands under flags.] 

Have you heard that pretty story 

Of the pansy garden bright; 
Some in gold and purple glory, 

Some in black and some in white? 

But these little pansy faces 

Are fairer than a bed of flowers; 

There are children of all races, 

And their hearts are just like ours. 

And some of us are surely going 
To take the news of Jesus' love 

To those pansies who are growing 
Who know not of the God above." 

[Children sing softly to the tune of ''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. "1 

Jesus loves the little children, 
All the children of the world — 

Red and yellow, black and white — 

They are precious in his sight, 

For Jesus loves the children of the world. 

— Selected. 

[ Enter small child with red mite box. Stands under flags. 

This is the song of a mite box red 

That stands on the shelf at the foot of my bed. 

Pennies will drop through this little slot. 
My, but this mite box holds a lot! 

When I get as old as my brother Jess, 
I'll drop in nickels and nothing less. 



32 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

When I get as rich as my father dear, 
I'll make a big hole for the dollars here. 

For there are children who go to sleep 
And never pray, "My soul to keep." 

So send them my pennies every one 
And tell them I wish I could send a ton. 

[Chorus repeats, "Jesus loves the little children," as all leave the stage.] 

— Mrs. Moffett Rhodes. 

MISS AMERICA'S MONEY. 

Notes. — Each child representing a nation should be dressed in the costume 
of that country. These costumes can be seen by looking in your files of the 
Young Christian Worker or the Missionary Voice. Gum may wear Spearmint 
wrappers pinned upon her dress. Candy's outfit is a sack such as the dry 
cleaner uses in returning a suit. Make the bag bulge at the knees and a tie at 
the neck. Picture Show should carry a signboard such as is seen in front of the 
movie. Ice Cream Sundae should hold a dish fixed with cotton to represent this 
delicacy. Ribbons should have a sash and bows of ribbon at the elbows and 
upon the hair. Toys carries a catalogue open at the toy page. Missions should 
be a tall child dressed in white, and when she speaks she should spread her arms 
in benediction over the heads of the children of the Nations, who, after making 
their plea, step to the right of the stage. "The Temptations" should group 
themselves on the left of the stage after making their speeches. Both girls and 
boys should take part, each child coming upon the stage just in time to recite 
his part. 

Characters. — Miss America. Missions. The Nations — Japan, China, Ko- 
rea, Africa, Cuba. The Temptations — Gum, Candy, Picture Show, Ice Cream 
Sundae, Ribbons, and Totys. 

Scene. — Miss America's money is before her on a table — pennies, nickels, and 
dimes. She runs her fingers through the money and rattles it as she speaks. 
At each temptation she is interested and begins counting the money, but a Na- 
tion arrives each time and suggests something better for her to do. 

Miss America. 

No doubt you think it is quite strange 
That I possess this stack of change. 
I've saved it for a long, long time — 
Each nickel here and every dime. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 33 

And now that I have it, me, O my! 
I can't decide what things to buy. 
I want to spend it so I shall be 
The happiest girl on land or sea. 

Spearmint Gum. 

I'm Spearmint Gum. You haven't any; 
Suppose you buy me with a penny. 

Japan. 

A penny a leaflet will buy for Japan. 
O, help my people as much as you can! 

Candy, 
I'm Handy, Spandy, Jack-a-Dandy. 
Five cents will buy a bag of candy. 

China. 
Five cents a Testament will buy 
In China's town. Please, hear our cry! 

Picture Show. 
A dime, you know, will let you go 
To see the moving picture show. 

Korea. 
Ten cents will send to poor Korea 
Some cards for little children dear. 

Ice Cream Sundae. 

An ice cream sundae you buy for a quarter; 
'Tis fit for the President's son or daughter. 

Africa, 
A quarter in Africa's wilds will pay 
For a native Christian at work one day. 
3 



34 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Ribbon. 
Half a dollar a ribbon will buy. 
Come, you can have one if you try. 

Cuba. 
In Cuba, if fifty cents you pay, 
A child in the kindergarten can stay. 

Toys. 
A dollar will buy a lovely toy 
And bring you happiness and joy. 

Missions. 
A dollar, if sent to the mission fields. 
Will tell the world of a Christ who heals. 

Miss America. 
I really am fond of the picture show 
And candy and cream and gum, you know. 
What little girl would not enjoy 
A bright new ribbon or lovely toy? 
But gladly I'll give God's blessing to send, 
And be to these children a true, loving friend. 
So take my money, and Bibles buy — 
To save still more I surely will try. 

When Miss America says, "So take my money and Bibles buy, " Missions and 
the Nations gather around the table, while the Temptations retire to the rear of 
the stage. Then Miss America sings to the tune of " Coming through the Rye " : 

If a body has some money, 

Easy 'tis to spend. 
I will give mine to these children 

And become their friend. 
Jesus loves the little children 

In the far-off land; 
So I give for them my money, 

As he did command. 

All Repeat. 
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." — Mrs. Geo. S. Brown. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 35 

THE MISSIONARY DOLLAR. 

Leader. 

Many people wonder what becomes of missionary money, 
anyway. You have always heard that money talks; and if 
you will listen to-day you will hear these ten dimes, which 
make up this missionary dollar, tell you about the work they 
are doing on the other side of the world. 

First Dime. 

I have to begin at the beginning of the work. I get the 
young men and young women from the colleges and semina- 
ries that are waiting to go as missionaries and take them out 
to the countries in which they are going to work. I tell you 
I am an overworked dime; and although I work just as hard 
and as long as I can, I am not sending all of the young mis- 
sionaries that are waiting on me. There are many more wait- 
ing for me to make arrangements to carry them. Can't you 
send me some more dimes to help me? 

Second Dime. 

I'm the building dime. After the first dime gets a mis- 
sionary to the field, I have to find him a place to live. You'd 
laugh, and I expect you'd cry too, if you could see some of the 
places they have stayed while they are waiting on you to send 
me to get them a home. I tell you 'tis a shame the way some 
of the missionaries have to wait. I know one who has put 
up an umbrella to keep the rain off her bed, and she has been 
waiting on me three years, but I have had so much else to do 
that I just could not get there. Then I have to build all the 
churches and chapels. My! but I'm a busy dime! Some of 
my churches are now needing paint, and others are about to 
fall down. I wish you could see the people that come up to 
the mission begging us to help them build a church. I know 
where there are millions of people without a single Christian 
church. Do hurry and send some more of me. 



36 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Third Dime. 

I'm the school bell dime. Whenever you send me out 
the school bell begins to ring somewhere. I'm running 
schools all over the world; but every day I have to see boys 
and girls turned away because my schools are so full, and I do 
not have any more dimes to start others. I know I'm the 
busiest dime in the whole missionary dollar. I have all the 
kindergartens to look after too. Do you know that if you 
cannot be a missionary yourself you can employ a good native 
Christian teacher for a hundred or a hundred and fifty dimes 
a month? She could be working on the other side of the 
world while you are working on this side. 

Fourth Dime. 
I am the hospital dime. I send out missionary doctors 
and nurses and build hospitals and buy medicines. Wher- 
ever I go to work the people come flocking with the sick folks 
— the lame, the blind, and the crippled — just as they used to 
when Jesus was on earth. I have gone into many lands 
where there was not a single physician until I got there. I 
help over two million people every year, but there are so many 
others asking for help that it almost breaks my heart. I need 
more hospitals and more doctors and nurses. If I had all of 
the other nine dimes in the missionary dollar, I could use them 
every one in my work. 

Fifth Dime. 

I'm the bible dime. I run nearly two hundred printing 
presses all over the world to print the Bible and other Chris- 
tian literature. I know you will see that none of the other 
dimes could get along without me. I have had a big job, too — 
— to learn three hundred and sixty different languages in 
which to print over two hundred million copies of the Bible 
within a hundred years. I am sure that if you knew how 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 37 



much need there is for more copies of the Bible and Christian 
books you would send more dimes to help me. 

Sixth Dime. 

I am the evangelist dime. You know the missionaries 
cannot do all the work by themselves; so they are training 
native preachers or evangelists so they can preach the gospel 
to their own people. Sometimes the evangelists preach in the 
churches, sometimes on the streets, sometimes from house to 
house, and sometimes they go on long tours through the coun- 
try. You would be surprised to see the different kinds of con- 
veyances I hire for the evangelists in different parts of the 
world — elephants, camels, horses, mules, donkeys, launches, 
steamboats, wheelbarrows, houseboats, jinrikishas, bicycles, 
and railroad trains. I keep busy all the time. 

Seventh Dime. 

I'm the bible woman dime. In many of the lands where 
the missionary dollar goes the women cannot come out to hear 
the preaching. I get Christian women and train them as 
Bible teachers and send them into the homes to teach the 
women of Jesus. I could put many more Bible women to 
work if I had only $60 a year with which to support them. 

Eighth Dime. 

I am the immigrant dime. Every single year thousands of 
people from across the sea land on our shores, coming to our 
Christian country for a chance at better lives. They are 
coming now, "two a minute"; whether we work or sleep, "two 
a minute"; whether we play or pray, "two a minute." They 
do not know how to speak our language or how to find the right 
right kind of home or the right kind of work or the right kind 
of church unless some one is at the landing place to advise 
them. I keep Christian workers right at the place where they 
are landing in great numbers, and these workers are directing 
many into the path of righteousness, instead of leaving them 
to wander in the broad way that leads to destruction. 



38 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Ninth Dime. 
I am the showing mercy dime. Right here in our own 
dear land there are many, many poor, friendless children who 
have neither a mother's care nor a mother's prayer. And 
they are in great danger, as you and I would be in their place, 
of growing up to be sinful unless somebody lends a helping 
hand. I pay for a gentle deaconess or missionary to go into 
the dark places of our land and search out and show mercy to 
these little ones. 

Tenth Dime. 

I don't go abroad at all. I stay right here at home and 
keep all of the others busy, for I'm the business dime. You 
may be very sure that I am not wasted, either. You cannot 
find another agent anywhere that handles as big a business 
as I do at so small a cost. I furnish all the missionary maga- 
zines and programs. I pay the printer and the expressman 
and the telephone company, and all the other bills that come 
in. I stick the postage stamps and send out the mite boxes. 
I send the money to the missionaries and keep all of the ac- 
counts. I can do this for you cheaper than you can do it for 
yourself. If you want to send a dollar to Japan, it will cost 
you five cents for a postage stamp and ten cents for a money 
order. I can put a thousand dollars together and send it for 
that. Sometimes I wish I could go with the others; but when I 
think about it, I know that I am doing more staying at home 
and helping to get the other nine together and getting them 
off. I tell you what you might do, though, if you want every 
cent of your dollar to go direct — just tuck in an extra dime for 
me. 

The Ten Dimes and the Leader (large boys and girls) form a half circle 
inside of chancel! They recite their respective parts, holding posters made 
to show the work of each dime. 

The leader has a dollar bill on forehead. The other ten children each 
have a dime made of cardboard covered with silver paper tied on their 
foreheads. 

— Reprinted by permission of the General Lit. Com. of W, M. A. of the United 
Lutheran Church in America, 844 Drexel Bid.",., Philadelphia, Pa. 



DRAMATIZATIONS. 



PRECIOUS FLOWER AND THE FLIES. 

A Social Service Dramatization (for older boys and girls twelve to fourteen 
years of age.) 

Scene I. 

Enter Mrs. Cu, in Chinese costume. Puts her hands to her eyes and peers out 
across the stage. 

Mrs. Cu. 

Of all the things! What has that Precious Flower been up 
to now, Mrs. So? 

Calls her neighbor through the doorway. Mrs. So appears (in door of stage 
opposite to Mrs. Cu.) 

Mrs. Cu. 

What do you make out those things to be hanging over 
Mrs. Wang's window and door? 

Mrs. So. 
It is some kind of cloth. 

Mrs. Cu. 
What do you suppose it is for? 

Mrs. So. 

I cannot imagine. That Precious Flower has done some- 
thing queer every time she came home for a vacation from the 
Mission School at Two Stones. Last year she took a notion 
that the chickens and the pig should be kept out of the house; 
she said they made the house dirty and bad for Little Gold to 
play on the floor. Just fancy! 



40 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Mrs. Cu. 
Well, let's step over and ask. 

Both women hobble through the doorway, stay out a moment, and then re- 
appear through the doorway opposite. 

Mrs. So. 

Well, of all crazy notions! Do you suppose what Precious 
Flower says is true, Mrs. Cu? 

Mrs. Cu. 

There is Mrs. Chang. O Mrs. Chang, have you heard the 
news? Precious Flower is home from the Mission School for 
her vacation, and she has hung a cloth of some kind over the 
window and the door. And such pictures as she has brought 
home! She says the flies have given your baby sore eyes! 

Mrs. Wang. 

Scornfully. 

The flies have done it! Why, it is the demons, of course, 
and I have just taken the baby to the doctor, who has stuck 
some needles into his face to drive the demons out. 

Mrs. So. 
Interrupting. 

But it is the flies with the dragons on their feet. Precious 
Flower has the pictures of these dragons, which she showed 
Mrs. Cu and me. She says we cannot see them with the 
naked eye, because they are so little, and that is why we do 
not know that they are there. But she has seen them through 
a little glass at school — a little glass that makes them big to 
the eye. She calls them "germs," which must be the school 
name for "dragons." She says they are the animals that 
bring the cholera and the fever. They walk over the filth 
and the heaps of refuse in our streets, and then they come in, 
with their spongy little feet all full of this dirty matter, and 
walk over the food we eat and over the baby's eyes, and 
even on its mouth. The things that cling to the flies' feet 
are really little animals. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 41 

Mrs. Cu. 

Interrupting. 

And these animals — germs, Precious Flower called them — 
make sickness. They poison the food; and when they light 
on sick people and then come to us, they bring the disease 
with them. They make the baby's eyes sore like your baby's 
eyes. 

Mrs. Chang. 

Fanning vigorously. 

Whoever heard of the like! What nonsense to say that 
about harmless little flies! Why, if I hadn't been used to 
flies all my life, you would scare me to death! But I will 
step in and see the child. 

Exit Mrs. Chang. 

Mrs. Cu. 
Excitedly. 

There's Mrs. Lu. Let's tell her this strange tale of the 
flies. 

Scene 2. 

They begin to tell her, and others of the village run to hear what the excite- 
ment is. All make gestures of surprise. Curtain falls as they talk. In a mo- 
ment it reopens, revealing a fish market that has up to this time been hidden by 
screens at back of stage. Besides fish, there are fowls hanging from nails. Mr. 
Wang is behind stand as shopkeeper., 

Reenter Mrs. Cu and Mrs. So. 

Mrs. Cu. 

In scolding manner. 

I never noticed so many flies in our street before. I was 
going to buy some fish for dinner. But look at old Wang's 
market! His fish are just covered with flies, and he Precious 
Flower's own uncle too! 

Comes nearer the market. 

Mr. Wang. 
In wheedling voice. 

Some nice fresh fish this morning, Mrs. Cu? 



42 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Mrs. Cu. 

Fresh fish indeed! Just look at the flies which cover them! 
Straight from your old fish heads and cleanings down there in 
the gutter [points to the gutter] they come, and they walk all 
over your fish. Fine fish they are! They are not worth 
half the price you charge for them. You ask your own niece, 
Precious Flower. She can tell you! Trying to poison us ail ! 

Mr. Wang looks bewildered. Can't speak for a minute. 

Mr. Wang. 

In a very loud voice. 

What has my niece been saying about my fish? 

Mrs. So. 

Retorting with scorn. 

O, nothing whatever about your fish. What she says is 
about the flies Your fish are not fit to eat when they are 
covered with dirty flies; certainly not at the price you ask. 

Mr. Wang. 
Very angry. 

I'll not sell one cash cheaper! 

Slams one fish against another. 

Mrs. So. 
O, very well. I shall buy some eggs. 

Mrs. Cu. 

And I shall look at this chicken. It isn't covered with 
quite so many flies as your miserable fish. 

The two go out with their purchases. Other women come in and say: "Too 
many flies," and go out without buying. 

Mr. Wang. 

Distractedly. 

I shall lose my mind! Evening is here, and I must sell at 
half price. I shall soon be a poor man, I have lost so much 
cash. I will stand this no longer. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 43 



Begins to shut up shop. Suddenly hears sound of shoveling behind shop. 
Hurries through door and drags into view a small boy who pulls in with him a 
small wheelbarrow. 

Mr. Wang. 

Screaming. 

Here, you young rascal! Leave my gutter alone. 

Boy. 
You let me be. 

In his fright tumbles over wheelbarrow. Wang catches him by the arm and 
shakes him roughly. 

Wang. 
What are you doing, you good-for-nothing? 

Boy. 

You let me be. I belong the the "Anti-Fly Society." 
See! [Points to a badge on his arm. Badge is made of white 
paper, on which is picture of magnified fly.] Precious Flower 
started it, and we boys all belong. And — and we are cleaning 
up the street so the flies won't come. You let go. 

Boy gets free and runs, crying, to his home. Leaves wheelbarrow. Badge of 
boy now lies in Wang's hand. He examines it. 

Wang. 

Now what in the name of all the demons is this? It looks like 
a cow. No, by the wings it is a fly! We are bewitched. I 
am losing my mind! Wait till I get hold of that miserable 
niece of mine. [Speaks through teeth.] I'll make her smart 
for this. Upsetting the whole town! 

Seizes a stick and sets out for home of sister-in law. Mutters and flourishes 
stick as he goes. Neighbors begin to follow him. Up runs Mrs. Cu, who 
shouts: "There goes old Mr. Wang to revile!" Boys with fly badges on join 
crowd. All hurry off stage for Mrs. Wang's. 

Act II. 

After a moment curtain rises on Mr. Wang crossing to side of door of stage. 
He stops midway on the stage, crowd following, and screams angrily. 



44 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Wang. 

Shall I pay my good money for Precious Flower's educa- 
tion at this mission school so that she can teach a government 
school and take care of her worthless mother and sister, so that 
they shall not be like stones around my neck any longer, only 
to have her come home and ruin my business? Yes, ruin it! 
Ruin it with her crazy talk about flies! Fifteen strings of 
cash have I lost this day. [Stops and pants. Crowd 
stands and listens. Wang goes forward to side entrance of 
stage and beats on the door over which is stretched mosquito 
netting.] What is this crazy cloth before the door, sister-in- 
law? [Yells.] I know. It is the doing of that good-for- 
nothing girl! 

Mr. Wang tears down some mosquito netting now stretched across the door 
at which he stands. Mrs. Wang appears in view and flings herself at Mr. Wang's 
feet. 

Mrs. Wang. 

O, do not beat Precious Flower. [Wails.] The child 
meant no harm. It is but the teaching of the Jesus school. 
She has meant harm to no one. 

Mr. Wang. 

Panting and waving his stick. 

Let me find her. I will teach her a lesson. 
Mrs. Wang. 

Clinging to his feet. 

I am sure she will talk no more about the silly flies. 

Neighbors crowd closer. 

Suddenly Precious Flower stands in doorway smiling. Beckons him to 
enter, lays finger on lips and points to neighbors behind him. 

Wang. 

Waving stick at her. 

You wicked girl! You good-for-nothing! Twelve strings 
of cash have I lost. [Tries to get to the girl, but Mrs. Wang 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 45 

holds his feet too tightly.] I'll make you smart for this. 
[Precious Flower still smiles and beckons. Wang suddenly 
stops, looks at her in surprise, loses his anger at her in fear, 
throws up his hands and cries.] Has the girl a demon, that 
she smiles and does not fear? 

Precious Flower. 
Please come in, uncle. I have something to tell you. 

Wang goes off stage with Precious Flower and door closes behind them. 
Mrs. Wang throws herself down on floor of stage and weepd. 

Mrs. Wang. 

He will kill her! He will kill her! I am sure he will kill 
her. 

Neighbors try to comfort her, but keep listening to the voices off the stage. 
Door opens at length, and Mr. Wang comes out on stage again and smiles. 

Wang. 

Go home, good neighbors. Go home and leave my foolish 
sister-in-law in peace. 

All look at him With great curiosity and disappointment. Exit everybody. 
Curtain. 



Act III. 

Wang in his fish market on one side of the stage. Fish are in bamboo frames 
protected by the mosquito netting that once hung in Mrs. Wang's house. In 
large, black characters over the fish stand hangs a sign. 
The sign: 

ANTI-FLY FISH MARKET. 

ONLY FRESH FISH UNTRAMMELED BY FLIES 

SOLD HERE. 

On the other side of the sign a string of characters read from top to bottom: 

"FLIES 
SPREAD 
DISEASE." 

Across top of stand pictures of gigantic flies. Fish selling rapidly. 
Mrs. Cu appears in doorway opposite the market. Calls to Mrs. So excitedly 
as she glances at Mrs. Wang's doorway across street. 



46 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Mrs. Cu. 

Mrs. So. O Mrs. So! Look over at Mrs. Wang's! Those 
thin cloths are gone from the door and two windows. Poor 
Precious Flower! Goodness knows what that old man said 
to her when they were alone in the house together. He nearly 
shook my boy to death last evening and took his badge away 
from him. The poor child was miserable until he and the 
other boys had some kind of a meeting with Precious Flower. 
I can't get a word out of him about it. But Wang must 
have half killed the child to make her take those fly cloths 
down. 

Mrs. So. 

Squinting across to Mrs. Wang's house. 

I wish I knew what happened. I'll go in and ask her after I 
have bought something for breakfast, but now I must hurry 
to market. 

Mrs. Cu. 

And I, too. I'll go with you. I suppose old Wang will be 
happy now he has gotten the best of his niece, but not one 
ounce of fish will I buy from him after the way he turned us 
all out of the house last night. 

Mrs. So. 
Shading eyes with her hand. 

Why, Mrs. Cu! See that crowd around Wang's fish mar- 
ket already. We must hurry. Perhaps he is selling some 
bargains. 

Mrs. Cu. 

What can have happened? He has all of -Precious Flow- 
er's pictures in plain sight. What can it mean? 

Hobbles closer, Mrs. So following. 

With others of the crowd assembled, they buy fish and go homeward. On 
the way back they spy Mr. Cu and Mr. Lu, two other shopkeepers, talking 
outside the door. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 47 

Mrs. So. 

Hobbling faster. 

Of all things! Just look at the markets of Mr. Cu and Mr. 
Lu across the street. How they buzz with flies! They say 
they got possessed with a great madness at Mr. Wang for 
taking to the new fly cloths — I have just heard it — and then 
because he sells fish and they do not, they want also some of 
that fly cloth. Let us stop and hear what they say. 
They step and listen. 

Mr. Lu to Mr. Cu {both entering doorway near which women 
.stand). 

See, Mr. Chang goes to the city to-day. I have just come 
from running after him to ask that he bring me back a roll of 
that fly cloth, that I, too, may sell fish like Wang. And what 
do you supppose? That Wang had already given him an or- 
der for five rolls. And he has made Chang promise to buy 
from nobody else! 

Mr. Cu. 

Wretched man, when I, too, wanted two rolls! That man 
Wang is too cunning. Now we shall have to buy from him 
or lose our cash on the fish. 

Mr. Lu. 

And he will charge us twice the value! [Looks sheepishly 
at his companion.] I'll send my daughter to that mission 
school, too. 

Mr. Cu. 

It seems to be a good business. Then Wang lose face, and 
we shall get ahead of him yet. 

Exeunt shopkeepers. 
The two women hobble homeward, exclaiming as they go. 

Mrs. So. 

Of all things! Mr. Lu's and Mr. Cu's daughters going to 
the mission school! And all because of a fly net! 



48 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Mrs. Cu. 
Directly the mission school will draw all our daughters, 
and then what will become of our village with so much knowl- 
edge in it? 

Mrs. So. 
I wonder! 

Curtain. 

Boys and girls wear practically same costume. Both wear long trousers 
usually of dull blue cotton cloth. Girls have band of embroidery around theirs 
at bottom. Both wear coats fastened on right side with loops of tape and knotted 
tape buttons, and closing up to throat. Coats of boys are long; those of girls 
just below hips. Of cen girls' coats are edged with embroidery or plain material. 
Over coat boys wear vests, sleeveless, and buttoning also on side (often of black 
cloth). Sleeves of girls coats are straight and large at wrists. 

Fish market may be arranged before opening of play and hidden from front 
of stage by large screens when not needed. Curtain drops for removal of these 
screens and the introduction of anything else that is necessary. Fish in market 
need not be real, if not convenient to have them so. Simply have the fish sign 
up and something to represent them. 

— This dramatization is an adaptation of "Precious Flower and the Flies," from 
"The Honorable Christmas Tree." By Anita Ferris. Everyland Press, 
■with permission of Missionary Education Movement of the United States and 
Canada. 

LIGHTING CANDLES AROUND THE WORLD. 

(A Play for Juniors.) 

Characters. — Auxiliary (tall girl of about from twelve to fourteen years of age) . 
Auxiliary Superintendent of Children's Work. Council Superintendent of 
Children's Work. Girl Members of the Junior Missionary Society. Boy Mem- 
bers of the Junior Missionary Society. Members of the Baby Division. 
"Children Crying in the Night." "Children Singing in the Light. " 

[Enter child. J 

Child. 

I am so tired of playing; I wish I could do something. 
Papa's at town meeting. Mamma is sewing, and sister is 
baking cake. Every one is busy but me, and I haven't a 
thing to do. They all say I am too little. I wish there were 
some work for children to do. 

[Enter Auxiliary in a white robe carrying banner.] 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 49 

A uxiliary. 

There is work for children to do — the greatest work in all the 
world. Would you like me to tell you about it? 

Child. 

O, yes, please do! Is there really some work for little hands 
like mine? 

Auxiliary. 
Listen to these children. 
[Enter children, who sing to the air, "Saviour, Like a Shepherd lead Us."] 

We are workers for the Master; 

Willingly to him we bring 
Hearts and hands to do him service, 

While our lips his praises sing. 
Little workers, happy workers, 

Willing workers for our King. 

Child. 

They all look so happy. I wish I could join them. Tell 
me lovely lady, who are you? 

A uxiliary, 

I am the Junior Auxiliary to the Woman's Missionary 
Council. 

Child. 
What is that? 

Auxiliary. 

I will call our Superintendent, and she can tell you. 

[Enter Council Superintendent of Children's Work.] 

Children. 

That is Miss . [Name Council Superintendent.] 

4 



50 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

A uxiliary. 

Can you tell this little inquirer something of the Council 
and its work? 

Council Superintendent. 

Gladly. The Council is composed of women chosen by the 
Church of her very best to attend to the details of the work 
of carrying out her mission. Can you tell me, children, what 
is the Church's mission? 

Children. 
To tell to all the world the gospel story. 

Council Superintendent. 
What is the gospel story? 

Children. 

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life. " 

Council Superintendent. 

Yes, that is the glorious mission of the Church, and the 
Council as your representative is sending out all the while 
brave women to tell these glad tidings far and near. And 
you at home want to know what is going on. 

[Exit Council Superintendent,] 

[Exeunt children.] 

Child. 

Isn't she lovely? What does auxiliary mean? 

A uxiliary. 

It means help. I help the Council in its wonderful work. 
Here is the Auxiliary Superintendent of Children's Work. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 51 

[Enter Auxiliary Superintendent.] 

A uxiliary Superintendent. 

All over the Church faithful women are working, praying, 
and giving for the great cause of missions. Here is a little 
box [holds up box] in which the united offerings, made as a 
thank offering for all our blessings, send out women all over 

the world to tell the good news. And we of the Junior 

Missionary Society [name your own local auxiliary] are glad 
to have a part in this wonderful work. 

[Exit.] 

Auxiliary Superintendent. 

Let me call some of the children of the Junior Auxil- 
iary to tell you what they are doing. 

[Enter girls singing Hymn No. 652, carrying each a bunch of pansies, the 
Junior flower.] 

Child. 
How do you help to carry out the Church's mission? 

First Girl. 

Our three aims are to study, pray, and give to missions. 
And one of our Deaconesses [Hold up picture.] Here is a 
picture of one of our missionaries. We have learned about her 
and helped her in her work. 

Second Girl. 

Here is one of our Junior Yearbooks. And the Young 
Christian Worker. [Hold up magazine.] 

Third Girl. 

We have studied hard and learned many interesting things 
about the children of the world, of the splendid work carried on 
by our missionaries and deaconess and of the call for more 
helpers. 



52 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Fourth Girl. 

Those of us who are not big enough to go, or for some reason 
have to stay at home, work hard too. Here are some of the 
things we have made for a Christmas tree, to show some little 
children who do not know about him of the Christ-Child's 
love. 

Fifth Girl. 

Here is a doll I have dressed. 

Sixth Girl. 
Here is a nice warm dress. 

Seventh Girl. 
Here's a pretty apron. 

Eighth Girl. 
And a little work bag. 

Ninth Girl. 
But most of all we must pray that the kingdom may come, 
first, right here in our home town. Then we pray for the wider 
fields — our State — and wider still — our nation; and then with 
added joy for the whole wide world. So step by step on this 
ladder of prayer our hearts are led upward to heaven. 

[Enter boys of the Auxiliary.] 

First Boy. 

The girls are not the only thing. We help too. From the 
boys must also come medical missionaries and teachers and 
preachers of the future; and we can work too. 

Second Boy. 
Here's a soft woolly ball we made for the Christmas tree. 

Third Boy. 
Here's a pretty pencil box we made. 
[Exeunt boys.] 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 53 

Child. 
It seems as if every one could help. 

Council Superintendent. 
Yes, even the tiny little ones and the babies. 
Enter several children, members of the Baby Division. 

A uxiliary. 
Here's a baby with his little red box and baby certificate. 

Child. 
What can such little ones as you do? 

One of the Baby Division. 

Give to our kindergartens all around the world. Here's a 
picture of one. 
Holds up picture. 

Child. 
Is that all you do? 

Baby Division Child. 

O no. Do you see all these little men? [Holds up hand 
with fingers outspread.] They are happy because they work 
for missions. 

All Baby Division, with gestures. 

Thumbkin says: "I'll pray for missions." 

Pointer says: "I'll show the way." 

Big Finger says : "I sew all day." 

Ring Finger says: "The money I'll give." 

Little Finger says: "I'll work, work, work as long as I live." 

Dance and sing, ye merry little men; 

Thumbkin says: "I'll sing again; 

Baby Division. 
We know about the children way over in Japan." 



54 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

All Baby Division, with gestures. 

This is a great round world, you see [making ball with hands] 

On this side live the Japanese children [turn "world" over], 
On the other side here are we. 

They don't have Merry Christmas [holds up left hand], 
And the blessed Eastertide. 

Don't you wish that we could tell them [hold up right hand] 
And our joy divide? 

Let us choose a missionary 
The glad news to tell [point to longest finger on right hand]. 

Here's a ship to take her over [four hands in shape of boat]. 
Now we wave to her farewell. 

Exeunt Baby Division children. 

Child. 
I want to belong to the auxiliary and help too. 

Auxiliary. 
Here's your badge and mite box [presenting them]. Be 
sure to work and give and pray. 

Child. 
Now I'm a member of the Junior Auxiliary, and I'll run on 
and join the others and work and sing with them. 
Exit. 

Auxiliary. 

One more little soldier of the cross to fight against the pow- 
ers of darkness. 
Exit. 

Darken stage. At back of the stage picture the Christ-Child with light 
thrown on it or with lighted candlesJ>efore it. Singing behind scenes. 

Send the Light. 
(Tune to "In the Sweet By and By. " 

There are lands far away o'er the sea 

Where in darkness dear children seek light, 

And the call comes to you and to me 

Who have learned of the way pure and right. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 55 



Chorus. 

Send the light all the way, 

That the marvelous glory divine 
Turn the darkness to day, 

Till the whole world for Jesus shall shine. 

Enter children in foreign costumes also Immigrant and Moslem children 
with unlighted candles in their hands. Light increased on stage. All 
Auxiliary children, including the new member, carry lighted candles dressed 
in white, singing. 

Do you hear the sweet voices that sing 
Of the love of the Christ-Child so bright. 

Lo, fair offerings now do they bring, 
That all darkness be lost in his light. 

During the third verse the children of the Auxiliary light the candles of the 
foreign children. 

Bearing the light is a part we may do, 
Holding it high that its beams reach far; 

So the light of his truth shines anew, 

Gleaming forth from the bright Morning Star. 

— Adapted from a "Junior Play. " By Alice Massey, Published by Church Mis- 
sion Publishing Company. 



THE GREAT GUEST COMES. 

A Dramatization in pantomime (for older boys and girls twelve to four- 
teen years of age.) 

A cobbler seated with his materials for mending shoes. A child who stands 
on the opposite side of the stage recites the poem; or, if she could sing it to the 
same tune, the singing would add to the effectiveness of the scene. As the poem 
is recited, the cobbler receives his guests and dismisses them in pantomime. 

Speaker. 
While the cobbler mused there passed his pane 

View of cobbler musing before the open door. 

A beggar drenched by the driving rain. 
Enter beggar in wet clothes and ragged shoes. 



56 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

He called him in from the stormy street 
Cobbler motions beggar to enter his place. 

And gave him shoes for his bruised feet. 
Cobbler unlaces beggar's shoes and gives him better ones. 

The beggar went, and there came a crone, 

Enter old woman, bent and hobbling on stick. Wears bonnet on head 01 
frilled boudoir cap. On back a bundle of sticks. Looks weary and tired. 

Her face with wrinkles of sorrow sown. 

A bundle of fagots bowed her back, 

And she was spent with wrench and rack. 

He gave her his loaf and steadied her load 
Cobbler hands her his loaf and steadies her load. 

As she took her way on the weary road. 

Then to his door came a little child, 

Lost and afraid in the world so wild, 
Enter little child sobbing for its mother. 

In the dark world. Catching it up 
Child draws back at first as he stoops to it; but as he caresses it, it allows 
him to catch it into his arms. 

He gave it milk in the waiting cup 
Gives child a cup of milk to drink. 

And led it home to mother's arms 
Leads by the hand to the door. 

Out of the reach of the world's alarms. 

The day went down in the crimson west 
Turn lights low. 

And with it the hope of the Blessed Guest, 

And Conrad sighed as the world turned gray: 
View of cobbler in chair with face sadly resting in palm of hand, sighing. 



MIS SIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 57 

Cobbler. 

11 Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay? 
Did you forget that this was the day? " 

Speaker. 

Then soft in the silence a voice he heard 
A voice from behind the scene finishes the poem. 

Voice. 
"Lift up your heart, for I kept my word. 
Conrad slowly raises himself erect as he listens. 

Three times I came to your friendly door; 
Three times my shadow was on your floor. 
I was the beggar with the bruised feet 
Reenter beggar in shining dress and stands by Conrad's chair. 

I was the woman you gave to eat 
Reenter the woman in shining garments and stands by Conrad with other 
angel. 

I was the child on the homeless street." 
Reenter child as third angel and stands with other two. All say the Bible 
verse, Matthew xxv. 34-36. 

The Angels. 

"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hun- 
gry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye 
clothed me." 

"Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto 
me." 

Cobbler listens with great joy on his face, a tableau light is thrown, the speak- 
er is not in the tableau now given, and as the tableau is given soft voices behind 
the stage sing verse and chorus of Hymn No. 282, " O Jesus, Thou Art Standing. " 

[Curtain.] 



58 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

FINDING THE HOUSE OF BROTHERLY LOVE. 

CHARACTERS IN PLAY. 

1. Drug Store Bottle. Child in underslip of blue cambric which reaches over 
head. Cut out place for face to show. Over the blue an apron of white 
cardboard is worn, and on this is printed in large letters the label of the 
bottle, "Sickles Drug Store." An outer wrapper of stiff brown Manila 
paper, with slits on sides for arms is worn. 

Wrapper extends to ankles and has heavy twine string tied loosely around 
waist. On back of wrapper have written in large letters address: "St. Mark's 
Hall." Cap of bottle made of silver paper to contrast with blue. Make cap as 
given, like cap of bottle (real bottle) . 

2. Old Suit. Have child (boy) to represent as nearly as possible a suit on a 
coat hanger. Must look stiff and awkward. Old shoes and hat. Face shows 
down in neck of coat. Arms jut out at sides. Do not have shoes and suit too 
old. 

3. Foreigners passing along stieet at opening of Scene 1 — French. Italians, 
Spanish, Greeks, Syrians, Chinese, Japanese, all dressed in suitable style. 

4. Cooking girls in white aprons and caps, carrying pies, cakes, etc. 

5. Librarian, small boy wanting book, others reading in room. 

6. Clubroom boys at work; change to basket ball team in sweaters and caps, 

7. Choir children. 

8. Row of medicine bottles on shelf. 

9. Doctors and Nurses in clinic room. (Omit these if desired.) 

Scene I. 

Enter bottle in costume as described above. Stops and gazes around. Does 
not know where he is. Makes gesture of despair. 

Botttle. 

In distress. 

I'm lost! How do I get home? How foreign-looking this 
place is! It confuses me to see so many kinds of people pass- 
ing — French, Italians, Spanish, Greeks, Syrians, Chinese, and 
Japanese. And those strange houses with the little iron 
porches that look like lace work on their sides. I can't recog- 
nize a one of them. Yonder are some bigger ones with yards 
full of flowers in front of them and vines and trees. From 
where I am, too, I can see pomegranates growing and figs and 
bright-red poinsettia flowers blooming on high things like 
trees ! And, O, just look at those stalls yonder where they sell 
fruits and vegetables, if they aren't all done up in parsley and 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 59 

peppers and strings of onions! And farther out I catch 
glimpses of a park with green grass and palm trees and water 
oaks with festoons of moss hanging on them and banks of red 
roses! But, O, that is not going to make me forget that I am 
homesick; for if I just so much as look out from away there one 
minute, my eyes will fall on those old sewers here before me. 
They are open, and the streets by them are dirty, and the 
houses on the streets just tenements scarce of air and sun- 
light, and scattered here and there are miserable saloons that 
foster gambling and prizefighting and horseracing. And 
I am lost here among it all and shall never get out! O, I am so 
miserable! So miserable! 

Bottle raises his lips to sky and tries to draw in big breaths of sweet air. Then 
he speaks in hurt, strangled tones. 

Bottle 

Looking around. 

O, if there were only somebody around somewhere to change 
this! If there just were — [Holds out his hands and looks 
at them, then shakes his head.] I could — but no, I am a drug 
store bottle. Of course I am ready for work, being just fresh- 
ly filled and having on a new label; but I don't know what 
kind of work I was meant for. Besides, I am lost, and the 
business of a lost person is to get back to his proper place as 
soon as possible. [He looks down at wrapper loose around 
his feet.] I used to be in a man's pocket, but I slipped out 
somehow. Now I can hardly walk with this wrapper flapping 
about my feet like this. And here's night coming on, and I 
here. I had better hurry on somewhere. 

A rusty old suit of clothes ambles out upon the stage, and the bottle bumps 
into him. 

Bottle 

Apologizing. 

I beg pardon, sir. I was hurrying along and did not see 
you come out. 

Old Suit. 

0, no harm done. I was just going up to St. Mark's. They 



60 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

may be needing me up there. Won't you go along with me? 
It's a good place to rest. 

Bottle 

Agreeing. 
Don't care if I do. A rest would do me good. St. Mark's? 
It seems to me I have heard of that place. What kind of 
place is it? 

Old Suit. 
It's — well, come along with me, and I will show you. 
Exeunt both. 
Curtain. 

Scene II. 

Stage arranged at rear like a clubroom, with chairs, tables, etc. Curtains on 
rings separates clubroom from front of stage. Two boys behind curtain draw 
curtain when desired. Two chairs on side of door of clubroom, in view of 
audience, for use of Bottle and Old Suit to lean against as they watch proceed- 
ings in clubroom. 

Old Suit 

Conducting bottle to chairs waiting for them. 

Let us stand here and see what happens. This hall is in 
shadow. No one will molest us. I want you to see the ac- 
tivities of old St. Mark's. The club work is about to begin. 
It will surprise you to see what these clubs do. It is in these 
rooms that the boys and girls find the employment that gives 
them happy minds. The boys enjoy stories, games, the mak- 
ing of scrapbooks, basketry, chair-caning, athletics, and basket 
ball. The girls learn cooking, sewing, and games. Along 
with their work they memorize Bible passages, hear stories, 
and sing. Sh! Here they come now! Look! 

Curtain draws, and girls enter in their cooking regalia, bearing in their hands 
pies and cakes and meats, which they set down on chairs. 

Girls Talking Together. 

Girls, just see! Here are meats and pies, and pies and 
meats, and meats and pies. — 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 61 

Somebody in Class. 
And cakes! Mention the cakes, too. I made 'em! 

All laugh. 

Girls Speaking Again. 

Yes, and cakes! We have made them all in our cooking 
class. What shall we do with them? Don't they look fine? 
Let's give them to somebody. Let us give unto the world a 
sample of our delectable cooking! 

Somebody in the Class. 

Hadn't we better sample them ourselves first? We might 
have put in salt for sugar, you know. 

All taste of a bit of cake and pie. 

All Together, Smacking Lips. 

Crisp! Brown! Perfect! Suppose we send them all to 
Vashti Industrial School, Thomasville, Ga.? Wouldn't the 
girls there like to get them, though? 

Each Member. 
I'll send mine! 

All clap lustily, then pick up a pie or something from chair, stand in row, hold 
out in front of them and yell. 

Girls Together. 

Meat cake — see 'em, sir — cake, meat, and pie, 

What shall we do with 'em; just let 'em lie? 

No, sir, never, sir; never mind why! 

We'll stack 'em up, pack 'em up, send 'em to Vashti. 
They'll meet 'em, and they'll eat 'em; they'll gobble like sharks, 
They'll shout through the distance: "Hurrah for old St, 
Mark's!" 

Rah! rah! Just keep on sizing by your books! 

St. Mark's has the looks! 



62 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

St. Mark's has the cooks! 
You'll be left 
HUNGRY! 

Curtain is drawn, and girls go out with their culinary products. 

Old Suit. 

These girls were so good at cooking that last year they ac- 
tually did send a box of cookies to the girls at Vashti School, 
at Thomasville. That's being kind to other folks, isn't it? 
And for their own amusement the Boy Scouts and Camp Fire 
Girls go on long hikes, camping trips, and have occasional 
banquets. 

Curtain opens again, showing long shelf of books. Children sit reading. 

Old Suit. 

And here is the thought shop in which their minds are al- 
ways at work making over old ideas and trying to invent new 
ones. As you see, it is the library and reading room. From 
association with good books one gets to be good. Whole 
families are sometimes won to Christ and the Church through 
the use of this library. Hear what that child is saying. 

Enter librarian. A boy gets up and goes to librarian requesting to take out 
a book he hold3 in his hand. 

Child. 
Please, may I take this book home with me? 

Librarian. 

Will you tell me why you wish to have this book instead of 
some other one, dear? Isn't it rather hard reading for you? 
Here's a nice little story you can read for yourself. 

Child. 

No'm: it's this one I want. I've had it before. Pa told me 
to bring it back again. He is so interested in reading it. 
He says the stories in it are so stirring they make you want 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 63 

to do things yourself. He has joined the church since he has 
been reading it. He tells me the things he reads about, and 
I like them, too. 

Librarian, 
Certainly you shall have it then. Here it is. 

Child goes out, and curtain is drawn. 

Old Suit. 

That book was the Bible. Guess you knew that. It is 
true about that boy's father having become a Christian 
through reading the Bible. He now carries his family to Sun- 
day school, too. Libraries are for the heart as well as for the 
mind, you see. 

Curtain opens on boys in clubroom. One reads, one has unfinished basket in 
his hand, one has chair turned up and is examining it preparatory to rebottom- 
ing it. A boy with ball enters. He begins tossing it up and down, then ex- 
claims impatiently. 

Boy with Basket Ball. 

O, come on; it's time for a game. Throw down your work. 
I'm ready for a good time. 

Boys. 

I am so glad it is time to play. My, what a good time we 
boys do have with that ball! We are the team. Let's 
give our yell. 

All stand together and shout and yell. 

"Boomer-lacka, boomer-lacka, bow, wow, wow! 
Hot stuff, hot stuff, give it to 'em now! 
Boomer-lacka, chicker-lacka, where's the spark? 
Fire 'em up, fire 'em up, old St. Mark! 
Rah! rah! Ball team! Ball team! 
Basketball!" 

Curtain falls. 



64 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Old Suit. 

That was the Boys' Club. They do many kinds of things 
here; and fine times they have with their games, their music, 
and their reading. Those who belong are the boys who once 
roamed the streets and had nowhere to go. And, O, the bad 
things they got into! But now they come here, like it even 
better and keep out of mischief. O, yes, we have religious 
services, too. There are the Sunday school classes, Epworth 
Leagues, missionary societies, prayer meetings, etc., down at 
the church; and we help out with them all. Just listen. 
This is prayer meeting night, and even now a song is floating 
up from the church below. A song in the distance is very 
charming, don't you think? 

Let voices behind the stage sing some sweet old song softly here. 

Old Suit. 

I will show you more of how the spirit of the Church influ- 
ences things up here. Come and see our clinic. (They draw 
nearer the curtain just as it opens on the clinic. Have 
children dressed as bottles, like illustration given, and standing 
on an improvised shelf made of stout plank supported at each 
end and in middle by chairs placed underneath plank.) 

Old Suit, Continuing. 

It is here the people who do not know how to care for their 
bodies come and learn from the doctors and nurses how to im- 
prove their health and that of their neighbors. They bring 
their diseased bodies here and get free service. Why, just 
think, three thousand five hundred people were made better 
last year! Some had eye trouble, some nose trouble, some 
throat trouble, some ear trouble and some just bad teeth. 
But careful attention was given to each case, and for this at- 
tention the people were very grateful. They opened their 
homes to their friends of St. Mark's after that and listened to 
what they had to say. Then they began to go to church. And 
so it is that the clinic often opens the doors of the home to 
Church and God. Just see for yourself where the people are 
treated for their troubles, 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 65 



The drug store bottle looks around. The bottles on the shelf begin to nod 
and beckon to him. 

Bottle. 

I see some fellows on that shelf who resemble me. They 
are making gestures at me, too, as if they want something. 
What's that for? 

Old Suit. 

Perhaps they need you up there with them. 

Bottle. 
I'd like very much to help, them but — 

Old Suit. 

And why not? This is the House of Neighborly Love. 
See what it is doing for everybody — caring for their souls, bod- 
ies, and minds. And they need all the help they can get. 

Bottle. 

The House of Neighborly Love? Why, I was just wishing 
for such a place. 

Old Suit. 

Well, why not stay? I believe you are the very fellow they 
are waiting for, anyway. Let me see if you aren't. [Ex- 
amine's the bottle's wrapper and reads aloud the address on 
it.] "Sickles Drug Co.— to St. Mark's Hall"— Yes, sir, I 
thought so! You are fresh from the Sickles Drug Company, 
and that's our drug store. Nearly all our fellows like you 
come from there. They sent you quite a while ago. It's a 
good thing you happened in. Get up there with the other 
bottles and stand ready. Here, I'll give you a lift, and then I 
must go back to the storeroom, They may need me there. I 
may still do some good in the world even though I am worn. 

The old suit here reaches out an arm and helps the bottle to his place on the 
shelf and then ambles away. 



66 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 




Drug Store Bottle, Happily. 
I'm so glad I'm here. Good-by, old clothes, and thank you. 

Curtain. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 67 



ALL ALONG THE TRAIL. 

A demonstration for boys and girls eight to ten years of age. 
-By Mrs. Moffelt Rhodes. 

Prologue: The Trail. 

The trail is wide, and the trail is long, 

And it leads to a sunset shore; 
And the trail was made by souls that were strong, 

From the new world's half-flung door. 

The red man said: "The land is mine." 
Said the white man: "It shall not be." 

So they fought and robbed with base design 
By the side of the restless sea. 

And westward pushed the hand of might, 

And deserts to garden grew; 
And millions, lured by freedom's light, 

Have crossed the ocean blue. 

For the gentle Jesus, with patience kind, 

Still pardons our faults and pride 
And bids us make, with his love in mind, 

The trail both long and wide. 

The Pilgrim. 

A girl in Puritan dress. 

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. 

The breaking waves dashed high 

On a stern and rock-bound coast, 
And the waves against a stormy sky 

Their giant branches tossed. 

And the heavy night hung dark 

The hills and waters o'er 
When a band of exiles moored their bark 

On the wild New England shore. 



68 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

What sought they thus far? 

Bright jewels of the mine? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? 

They sought a faith's pure shrine. 

Aye, call it holy ground, 

The spot where first they trod. 
They left unstained what there they found, 
Freedom to worship God. 

— Hemans. 

Indian. 

Boy in Indian costume. 

I am the Indian. When the white man came to America, 
I roamed and hunted everywhere. Now I live where the 
white man says I must. My people were glad when they 
heard of the white man's Book of heaven. They cane two 
thousand miles to get it. Now I lay aside my blanket for the 
white man's clothes. I lay aside my bow and arrow and take 
the white man's gun. I forget to hunt and fish, and I go to 
the white man's school and shop. I will love the white man's 
Jesus and the Great White Father at Washington. 

Pioneer. 

Boy in costume. 

I am the pioneer. I make paths through the trackless 
forest. I fight with wild beasts and savages. I clear the 
ground that others may have homes. I make the trail long 
and wide for the Stars and Stripes and for the message of 
Jesus. 

Eskimo. 

Boy or girl in Eskimo dress. 

I live in the frozen North where the sun shines six months 
in the year, but I am an American, and the trail comes this way 
way too. The ice and snow couldn't keep out the mission- 
ary. Before he came we used to be hungry and even starve, 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 69 

but he brought us the reindeer. Now we have food and warm 
clothes and a team to take us spinning over the snow. Best 
of all, the missionary teaches us about Jesus; and when we 
learn to love him we are always cleaner, kinder, and happier. 

Mountaineer. 

Boy in overalls. 

We-uns live in the mountings. We haint' never had no 
chanct. Paw 'lowed I could go to school and l'arn to read, 
but there warn't no room fer me. Come next year, me'n sis- 
ter, we-all are goin' ter the Sue Bennett School. We're sure 
glad the trail comes this a-way. 

Negro. 

Boy. 

Once there was a little black boy like me, and he wanted to 
go to school. He walked a long way to find it, and then the 
teacher said he couldn't stay because he hadn't any money. 
He said he could work. The teacher told him to sweep the 
room. He swept it twice and dusted it three times. It was 
so clean that the teacher said he could stay and work. He 
grew up to be a great man and had a school of his own. We 
can't all be great like Booker Washington, but if you will give 
us a chance we will grow to be good Americans and follow the 
trail. 

Immigrant. 

A girl in calico dress with kerchief and bundle or, if preferred, several boys 
and girls with one as spokesman. 

I came across the water in a big ship. I wanted to go to 
school and earn a lot of money and go to my own church with- 
out being afraid. Many thousands like me come to America 
every year. We need some one to be a good friend to us and 
to teach us how to be good Americans and, most of all, to tell 
us about Jesus. Don't let us miss the trail. 



70 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Chinese. 

A boy in Chinese costume. 

Nobody wants me. Everybody makes fun of me. I don't 
like America. Then kind lady come. Take me to Sunday 
school. Learns Jesus God. He say love everybody. Why 
don't everybody love me? 

Japanese. 

Very small child. 

I go to the kindergarten in Alameda. We sing and play, 
and then we talk about Jesus, and then we kneel down and 
pray to him. And then I say all to myself: "Dear Jesus, 
bless my honorable father and mother and Gobo and my sister 
Yuri and make them throw away the ugly idol. Amen. " 

America. 

Tall girl draped in the Stars and Stripes. 

You are very welcome, all my children. I need you every 
one. But how shall I help you all to follow the trail? Who 
will help me? 

Social Service. 

Girl with broom. 

I will help, dear America. My broom will sweep away the 
dirt and the cobwebs of superstition and ignorance. I will 
make healthy villages and clean houses. I will teach the 
boys how to make good citizens and the girls how to make 
good homes. I will help to keep the little babies alive in the 
hot summer. I will help you, dear America. 

Medical Work. 

Boy with medicine case. 

I will help you, dear America. I am Medical Work. I 
travel everywhere by boat, by dog sled, on horseback, of in 
automobiles. No one is too poor for me to help. When I 
have made them well, they will be better Americans. I will 
help you, dear America. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 71 

Literature. 

Girl with magazines and Bible. 

I will help you, dear America. I am Literature. I am 
good books and magazines that show people how to think 
better thoughts and live better lives. I am the Bible that 
keeps their feet in the trail. I will help you, dear America. 

America. 

Thank, you my good friends. With your help we will make 
this land a beautiful, clean, united Christian America, and 
Jesus Christ shall be its King of kings. 

All join hands and sing "America." 

THE GARDEN OF CHILDREN. 

(For Junior Boys and Girls from 9 to 12.) 

BY MINERVA HUNTER. 

Characters. — The gardener, dressed in overalls and a large hat. American 
twins, boy and girl. Chinese poppy. Japanese chrysanthemum. Mexican 
cactus. Belgian and French fleur-de-lis. African yellow daisy. United 
States pansy. Korean hibiscus. Brazilizan saudade. 

Dress the children to carry out the flower idea. The hibiscus is related to our 
garden okra, and its bloom may be copied. The saudade is like our clover and 
may be white, purple, pink, or variegated, The children's dresses may be made 
of crepe paper or cheesecloth. If it is impossible to dress the children for their 
parts, let each child carry the flower of the country represented. These flowers 
may be borrowed from a milliner or from storekeepers who decorate their win- 
dows with artificial flowers. If there is a member of the auxiliary who can make 
flowers, these will serve. A pond lily to which "stickers" have been added 
will make a prickly pear, which is a species of cactus. The fleur-de-lis is the 
same as our iris or flag. Children representing flowers should stand in rows, 
heads drooped. 

Gardener. 

This is God's garden of children. Every blossom is pre- 
cious in his sight, yet every blossom is blighted. 
American twins, who have been listening in the background, come forward. 

Boy. 
Hello, Mr. Gardener, let us help you with your flowers, 
We will take one for our very own. 



72 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Girl. 

Yes, we want the sickliest little flower of all. We believe 
it will become beautiful under our care. 

Gardener. 

I do not know which flower is the sickest. Come and see 
if you can tell. [Leads the way to the Chinese Poppy.] 
Speak, little flower. What is your trouble? Why don't you 
grow? 

Chinese Poppy. 

For many years the poppy was made into a terrible drug, 
and many fathers and mothers in China used the drug until 
their brains were dulled and they did not care for their chil- 
dren. Now the great poppy fields are no longer seen, and the 
little children are being sent to school, where they are edu- 
cated and trained as they should be. Many more schools are 
needed in China. 

Boy. 

I earn money every week. I will be glad to give some to 
the schools in China. 

Girl. 

And I earn money. We will take this flower, Gardener. 

Gardener. 
Wait, you have not seen the other flowers. Perhaps you 
will prefer one of them. [Leads them to the Japanese Chrys- 
anthemum.] Speak, Chrysanthemum; tell us about your- 
self. 

Japanese Chrysanthemum. 

The chrysanthemum is one of the most noted flowers of 
Japan. People come from all over the world to see the gar- 
dens when the flowers are in bloom. The Japanese love their 
children far more tenderly than they love their flowers. They 
want their children to be happy, but they cannot be happy 
unless they know about Jesus. Japan needs many more Sun- 
day schools. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 73 

Girl. 

brother, you take the Chinese Poppy; I love the Japanese 
Chrysanthemum. We can help both. 

Boy. 
Yes, I think we had better take both. 

Gardener. 

Do not leave until you have seen the other flowers. This 
is an interesting plant. It pricks every one who touches it. 

The twins touch it and draw their hands away quickly. 

Girl. 

Thank, you, Mr. Gardener; you need not show us such 
flowers at that. We do not care for ugly, unpleasant things. 

Boy. 
What is the horrid creature, anyway? 

Gardener. 
Tell them about yourself, Mexican Cactus. 

Mexican Cactus. 

1 am prickly and unpleasant because I have been mistreated 
for centuries and so expect injustice from all I meet. Many 
years ago my country had great wealth. We were a happy 
people until men came from a far off land seeking gold. They 
took our homes from us and taught us an untrue religion. 
The United States was settled by people who wanted reli- 
gious freedom, but poor Mexico was overrun by fortune seek- 
ers. We want more schools, and we want the true religion. 

Boy. 
It is not your fault that your ancestors fell into the hands 
of these invaders. I will share my schools and Churches with 
you. Come with me. 



74 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Girl. 

I want to help. [Takes his hand and looks at him in sur- 
prise.] Why, the "stickers" do not stick any more! 

Gardener. 
That is because he knows you love him. 

Boy. 
Show us your other flowers. They are all so interesting. 

Gardener. 

Here are two lovely flowers. They are little neighbors who 
live side by side in Europe. As the Belgians have no national 
flower, I allowed them to share the French fleur-de-lis. 

Girl. 

Why, it is like our flower, the flag. Mother says we should 
call it the iris. Is this the fleur-de-lis? It seems so much 
more homelike now that I see it is the flag. 

Boy. 

What do the children of France and Belgium need to make 
them grow and bloom in God's garden? 

Belgian Fleur-de-Lis. 
Our fathers and older brothers have been killed in the war. 

French Fleur-de-Lis. 

And disease and overwork have killed many of our mothers 
and older sisters. 

Belgian Fleur-de-Lis. 

We need orphanages where we can have food and be edu- 
cated and cared for until we are old enough to care for our- 
selves. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 15 

Gardener. 
Have you noticed this yellow daisy? 

Boy. 
What country does it represent? 

Gardener. 
A whole continent. 

Girl. 
The Dark Continent? 

Gardener. 
Yes, Africa. Tell about your people, lovely Yellow Daisy. 

African Yellow Daisy. 

My people are surrounded by wild animals of the jungles, 
and sickness is everywhere. We need doctors, and we need 
men to build roads through the forests. We need, most of all, 
to know about God. 

Boy. 

I will help you to know about God. I will help send the 
Bible to your people. 

Korean Hibiscus. 
Don't forget me. 

Boy. 
Certainly not. What can we do for you? 

Korean Hibiscus. 

Pray for us; pray night and day. Our people reach out 
yearning hands to you. They would know your Christ. Will 
your dear America not send us teachers to tell us more of him" 



76 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Girl. 

We will pray for you. We will help you with our money 
too. 

Boy. 

Here is a clover, Mr. Gardener. What country does it rep- 
resent? 

Gardener. 

Brazil. Tell me about yourself, Saudade. 

Brazilian Saudade. 

I am the symbol of homesickness, or a longing to see some 
one. I truly represent my people. Christianity is in Bra- 
zil, but under the guise of the Roman Church. The people 
of my country are homesick to see the living Christ. They 
long for him. Will you help my people? 

Girl. 

Yes, indeed. We love Christ and want all people to know 
him. What is the pansy doing in your garden? It repre- 
sents our Junior Missionary Society, and it also represents 
the United States. Surely every one in our own land has an 
equal chance. 

United States Pansy. 

Babies in the United States die by the thousands every year 
because they do not have enough to eat and because their 
mothers do not know how to care for them. Milk stations 
and clinics for these little ones are needed badly. Then there 
are mountain boys and girls who grow into old men and women 
and never learn to read and write. 

All the time that the pansy is speaking the other flowers draw nearer. 
They look as if they want to speak. 

Chinese Poppy. 

There are many of my people in the United States. They 
long for a helping hand. The Japanese and Koreans are with 
us all along the Pacific Coast. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 77 



Mexican Cactus. 

My people are in Texas. They want to learn your lan- 
guage and find that you are their friends. 

French Fleur-de-Lis. 

In Louisiana there are many of my people. They are 
learning to love the United States. 

African Yellow Daisy. 

My people are scattered all over the United States. Please 
give them a chance to be good citizens. 

Boy. 

This is the biggest garden of children I ever saw. The two 
of us cannot care for them, but I am sure when we tell the 
Junior Missionary Society thay will help. There are more 
than fifty thousand children in the Junior Missionary So- 
cieties. They can do wonderful things. They can carry the 
message of Jesus to every flower in God's garden of children. 
Let group of Pansy children come tripping in and sing "Jesus 
Loves Them All." 

WAITING FOR THE DOCTOR. 

A Medical Mission Dialogue for Junior, Intermediate, 
or Older Girls. 

Mary and Jane, two American girls, are seated by table. 

Mary. 

Its' perfectly dreadful to be sick these days. Last week I 
was awfully sick, and mother telephoned for an hour trying 
to get a doctor. Then it took him another hour to get there. 
It's a perfect shame what we have to put up with since war 
days. I nearly died, and mother was almost frantic. 

Jane. 
0, you poor dear! To think of you lying there and suf- 



78 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

fering for two whole hours! That is simply an outrage. 
Something ought to be done so such things could not happen. 

Mary. 

It is dreadful; and even when we got a doctor, we could not 
get a nurse for love or money! Isn't it terrible? 

Chinese Girl. 

Enters, shakes her own hand in greeting and bows to American girls. 

I beg your pardon for interrupting, but I heard what you 
said about waiting for a doctor, and I just had to come in and 
tell you how we have waited for a doctor in China. My 
grandmother waited all her life, and my mother has waited all 
hers. When I was a very little girl I was very sick. My 
grandmother said it was because there was an evil spirit in me 
which must be gotten out at once; so they pierced my tongue 
with a long, sharp, red-hot needle. Then when I did not get 
better a Chinese doctor with great, big colored glasses came 
to see me and left a prescription, which he said was very val- 
uable and had been written by his ancestor more than a 
thousand years ago. It was this: "One centipede, the eye 
of a snake, the claw of an eagle, and the liver of a toad. Grind 
all together and roll into pills. Swallow five of these the 
next two hours, and she should be completely cured. Dis- 
solve a little powdered tiger bone in water and make her drink 
at night, and her strength will be restored. " 

Jane. 
Didn't the needle hurt? 

Mary. 
And didn't those pills taste awful? 

Chinese Girl. 
Of course they did, and I screamed as loudly as I could. 
Then my grandmother stuffed my mouth with rags, so the 
spirits would not hear me and become angry. The pills were 
horrible and didn't do me a bit of good. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 79 

Mary. 
I should think not. Why did you take them? 

Chinese Girl. 
That was the only thing I knew to do and the only thing 
my mother knew. Could the doctors from America tell us a 
better way? 

Japanese Gir'. 

Enters leading by the hand a small child with bandaged eye, interrupts 
Chinese girl. 

I, too, heard what you said about waiting for a doctor; so I 
came in to tell you about waiting for a doctor in Japan. My 
little sister's eye is very sore. My mother told me to take her 
to the God of Healing, and I rubbed his great stone eye with 
my fingers and then I rubbed my little sister's eye. I even 
held her up and let her rub her poor little sore eye right on the 
idol's eye, but she is no better. 

Mary. 
Don't you know that that idol was just full of germs and 
would only make her eye worse? 

Jane. 
I thought Japan had many fine hospitals and good doctors. 

Japanese Girl. 
We do have many doctors; but my mother sent me to the 
priest, and it was he who told me to go to the God of Healing. 
We gave money to the priest, and he said my sister's eye 
would be well, but it is not yet. 

Mary. 
O, this is dreadful! 

Korean Girl {enters.) 
We have waited for the doctor so long in Korea. Here and 
here and here on my body are the scars [points to shoulder, 



80 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

arm, and chest] that have been made by the sharp knives 
which our doctors used to let out the pain. They used a 
little knife to let out a little pain and a big knife to let out a 
big pain. Some American doctors have come to Korea, but 
most of our people are still waiting for the doctor. 

Mary. 

O, dear, I feel ashamed to think of the way I have grunted 
and grumbled and complained about waiting just one little 
hour, when every one was so lovely and kind to me! 

Mohammedan Girl (enters.) 

When I was sick in Persia, the doctor said I must have a 
new charm at once; so they wrote a prayer from the Koran 
and put it in a little bag and tied it to me. Then he said I 
had too much black blood; so they cut a vein and drew out 
some. Then they laid me in the ashes of the oven and bound 
on my breast two halves of a freshly killed rooster. 

Mary. 
That sounds very foolish to me. 

Jane. 
Did it help any? 

Mohammedan Girl. 

Not a bit. So then my mother put a coin on the top of 
my head and prayed to the spirit to come and get the coin 
and take my sickness away; but that didn't do any good 
either. 

African Girl (enters.) 

When I was sick in Africa, my mother took me to the witch 
doctor. He made deep cuts on my arms and shoulder. He 
said this would let the evil spirit out, and when the blood was 
dried on my body the spirit would be afraid to come back 
into me. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 81 

Mary. 
O, all this is terrible! 

Jane. 

Why doesn't somebody tell your mothers what to do when 
you are sick? 

Girl from India. 

Who has entered as they are speaking. 

For ten years I waited for a doctor in India. I was mar- 
ried when I was five years old. My husband died two years 
later, and I was a widow. My head was shaved, all my jew- 
elry was taken away, and I was given one coarse white cloth 
to dress in and one meal a day. Even the children at play 
ran from me, lest my shadow should fall on them and bring 
them evil. Then I was very sick. My husband's mother 
thought I was going to die; so she had them carry me out and 
lay me by the roadside so the house would not be polluted. 
As I lay there wishing I might die, I heard some one coming. 
Then I felt a soft hand on my hot head. I was too weak to 
speak. The lady lifted me in her arms and carried me to the 
automobile in which she was riding. When I opened my eyes 
I was in a soft, clean bed. They told me it was a mission 
hospital. Every day I grew stronger and happier, and now 
I am learning to be a nurse myself; and the love of Jesus, the 
Great Physician, fills my heart. 

Girls from Foreign Lands in Unison. 
Jesus, the Great Physician! Who is he? 

Chinese Girl. 

Facing Mary and Jane. 

If you know him, why have you not told me. [Other girls 
add one after another. 1 And me? 

Mary. 
Why-er-we — 
6 



82 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Well-er-you-sec 



Jane. 
Jane to Mary. 

With sudden conviction. 

This is medical missions mother has been talking about, 
and we said we weren't interested! 

Mary. 

But I did not know anybody suffered and was treated in 
such a terrible way! 

Jane. 

And we would not join the Missionary Society so we might 
learn, and we said we would not give a cent to that hospital 
fund! 

Mary. 

And we thought we had a dreadful time when we were sick. 
Jane. 

To girls from foreign lands. 

I am going right straight to our missionary society and tell 
them just how things really are, and we will do our very best 
to send doctors and nurses and build hospitals. 

Mary. 

And maybe, if I can learn enough, I will be a doctor my- 
self and go somewhere to help some o the people who have 
waited so long for a doctor. 

Costumes. 

Jane and Mary, ordinary dresses. 

Chinese girl, plain black or dark blue skirt (or wide trousers reaching to 
ankles). The full Chinese jacket may be made by pajama pattern from dark 
blue cambric. Fasten with loops of red or white braid. 

Japanese girl, kimomo with wide square sleeves, with wide sash of silk or 
cambric tied high in the back in square bow. Butterfly bows, paper flowers, or 
tiny fans in the hair. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 83 



Korean girl, very full baggy white trousers coming to ankles. Over this an 
outer skirt of light blue cheesecloth, made like a very full apron, almost as long 
as trousers. It should have long tie strings of same material, which lap over in 
the back and tie in front. A low-necked jacket with flare elbow sleeves should 
be worn, tied in front with two sets of tape strings. 

Mohammedan girl, purdah, made by sewing together at the sides two widths 
of white cheesecloth, forming a bag open at both ends. Gather at upper edge 
and sew around a small circle of cloth cut to fit the head. This hangs full to the 
floor. There are no sleeves and no gatherings at the waist or neck. Cut a 
small triangular opening over the face or round openings for the eyes and 
insert pieces of lace. 

Girl from India, eight yards coarse white cheesecloth or muslin, at least a 
yard wide, to form the length of the skirt. No sewing required. Hold one 
end in the left hand at the waist line in front. Pass che goods tightly round 
hips to the front. Tie the upper corner in firm knot to che upper edge of goods 
held in right hand. Bring the cloth snugly around the body once, then lay the 
long end in plaits to within three of four yards of the end. Tuck these plaits in 
over the knot in the middle of front, bringing fullness about six inches below 
waist line. Pass the loose end of cloth over the left hip, up under right arm and 
over the left shoulder, bringing it around over the right shoulder and up over 
the head. A plain waist with short, tight sleeves may be worn underneath. 
No jewels are worn by widows of India. 
— Courtesy of Women's Missionary Society, United Lutheran Church in America. 

THE CALL OF AFRICA. 

Five speakers, either boys or girls, enter, one at a time, wearing attached to 
their shoulders cardboard placards twenty-two by twenty-four inches, on which 
are the following designs or words: 

First placard: A huge question mark. Second placard: A map of Africa paint- 
ed black except for a tiny bit of white at the southern point and the rivers traced 
in green. Third placard: "Bishop Walter R. Lambuth, Our Pathfinder." 
Fourth placard: "Our Mission at Wembo-Nyama. " Fifth placard: "Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. " 

First Speaker. 

A certain continent stands out from the ocean in the shape 
of the huge question— "When? When?" This continent is 
five thousand miles long and four thousand miles wide at its 
greatest breadth. It has the greatest desert in the world, the 
biggest cataract, the longest lake, and the deepest and dark- 
est area of human need. It has nearly twice the population 
of the United States, and seventy-five million of these people 
are absolutely untouched by Christian influence. Will you 
listen to its question? 



84 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Second Speaker. 

Here is the questioning continent, the Dark Continent. 
Only a little bit of white is in the south, and a few light 
places in the form of mission stations are in the great interior. 
In the great Congo region in the west [tracing the river with 
the finger], which contains twenty million people, there are 
very few places of light. The Presbyterian Church has a 
mission here [pointing] at Luebo, but the regions beyond are 
largely in darkness. One woman, the wife of a chief, said: 
"We heard of the white men who could bring us the Book. 
We went into the forest and cut down trees and built a church 
for the white man's God. But many moons have come and 
gone, and no messenger has arrived." 

Third Speaker. 

In the year 1911 our Church here in America sent Bishop 
Walter R. Lambuth to Africa to find a place for the mission. 
Bishop Lambuth was our pathfinder. He went to the Dark 
Continent and as far into the Congo . district as Luebo. Here 
the Presbyterian missionaries gave him provisions and a 
caravan and started him into the jungle. He, with his com- 
pany, crossed many rivers and streams, waded through swamps 
and visited two hundred villages, some of them cannibal 
villages. He was exposed to the African fever and bitten by 
the deadly tsetse fly, but, in the goodness and mercy of God, 
escaped all danger and arrived one day at a large village, 
Wembo-Nyama, which seemed to offer wonderful oppor- 
tunities for a mission. The great chief, after a few days of 
suspicion, made the Bishop welcome and begged him to send 
teachers to tell him and his people of God. Our pathfinder 
promised to do this and came back to America to find the 
teachers. 

Fourth Speaker. 

Three earnest young married men and their wives were 
found in America who were willing to go into Central Africa. 
In the party were a physician, a preacher, an agriculturist 
and builder, a nurse, and two teachers. They bravely faced 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 85 

the unknown and plunged into the heart of the Dark Conti- 
nent to make their homes there and to give their lives in serv- 
ice to the people. Neither miles nor money can measure 
their heroism. On a long, long trail through the wilderness 
the party went with a caravan of native carriers stretching 
half a mile in length. At times some one at the front of the 
line would start a sweet song which would be caught up and 
carried to the other end. The marchers often went forward 
to "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" and in the dark places of 
the jungle sang "Trust and Obey. " When they camped they 
held morning and evening prayers. Three days' journey 
from the village the great chief met them and escorted them 
in amid the rejoicing of his people. Thus the mission at 
Wembo-Nyama was founded. A little spot of light was 
started right here [fastening a white cross on the map of the 
second speaker]. Bishop Lambuth helped the young mis- 
sionaries to plan their work in a large, wise way and then left 
them to take up his work elsewhere. 

Fifth Speaker. 

Though the pathfinder left our workers in Wembo-Nyama, 
surely they were not left alone; for Jesus, who commanded. 
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature," also said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." His blessing has been upon the mis- 
sion. The lives of our missionaries have been preserved. 
Many of our poor native people have given up their idols and 
turned to God; and many boys and girls have gone into school 
and workshop, where they are learning to become good and 
useful men and women. During the four years of the great 
World War God's hand has been over the little band at 
Wembo-Nyama. While the guns of war and destruction have 
boomed over Europe, these quiet workers have been sowing the 
seed of peace and a new life in Central Africa. Sometimes they 
have been shut off fron the outside world entirely, with no 
mail for months, but their work has gone on. The tiny light 
spot has become larger now. There is a church, a school, a 
hospital, a workshop, and also happy little missionary homes. 



86 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Other workers have gone to join the first group. More and 
more the good news of Jesus and his love is being carried out 
from Wembo-Nyama to other villages. Our missionaries have 
been strong and true. We must send them more help, more 
money for their work, and more love. We must pray more for 
God's blessing on them. This is the only way to answer 
Africa's great question mark. 

All the Speakers Together. 

O Africa, we have heard thy call! 

We have begun and will not turn aside! 
We will onward work till we win or fall, 

Keeping faith with you for whom Christ died! 
— Adapted by Miss Eleanor Neill. 

THE LONESOME LITTLE DOROTHY. 

A missionary demonstration on Brazil for Juniors nine to tv/elve years of age, 
in one act. 

Characters and Costumes. 

1. Spirit of love: White robe of cheesecloth (Grecian style), flowing hair, and 
bandeau of gold surmounted in front with golden star (of cardboard and gold 
paper) Golden wand (stick wrapped with gold paper) . 

2. Love's helpers: Junior missionary boys and girls in white (their usual 
clothes). They also wear on heads plain bandeaux of gold (without star), and 
their leader carries a banner bearing the words: "Love's Helpers — The Junior 
Missionary Band. '" Each helper brings with him the gayest flower he can get 
or a fern or vine for decoration of stage. They must be careful to arrange the 
decorations as tastefully and showily as possible. 

3. Brazilian children (a) white child, poor class: Dark skirt reaching below 
knees, band of white above hem; plain white guimpe buttoned behind and ruf- 
fle in armholes and around neck (like blouse). Barefooted or white slippers and 
black stockings. Hair in curls with one tight curl across the forehead. At 
waist have guimpe like middy blouse band. 

(6) white Middle class and rich class: White dress. Bareheaded. 

(c) Indians: Girls from four chief tribes of Brazil. Blue skirts, red blouses, 
huge straw hats (like field hat), black hair hanging. (Get Indian make-up 
from March Brothers, Lebanon, Ohio. Department of S. S. Supplies.) 

4. Little North American girl in white: Has doll, game, book, and materials 
for making doll dress. 

5. Children, boys and girls, for processional (Catholic): Wear white robes 
(loose), silver bands around heads, and carry basket of flowers in right hands 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 87 



and lighted candles in left. Make as picturesque as possible. Dressed as an- 
gels. 

6. Child from Brazilian mission school. 

7. Unseen choristers for distant singing. 

Stage Decoration. 

Vines, ferns, pot flowers, and flowers in vases. Have the most brilliant 
blooms possible. Do the most of the work before the play begins, leaving only- 
vases and smaller receptacles to be filled from hands of children. All the green 
things might be in place and only gay blossoms brought by Love's Helpers, and 
arranged after children come in. Show them beforehand where to place them 
most effectively. Rocking-chair for Dorothy and a book on Brazil left conspicu- 
ously somewhere for Dorothy to find (book may be only a pretense as to 
country, but there should be gaudy pictures in it). 

Enter one of the largest Juniors dressed as Spirit of Love. She approaches 
front of stage and stands a moment, then speaks. 

Spirit of Love. 
I am the Spirit of Love. It is my business to keep the 
world beautiful and happy. I wonder what I can do here. 
[Looks around.] My, what an unprepossessing place! I 
must call my helpers to see. [Goes to doorway and sings to 
tune of Hymn No. 67, in Methodist Hymnal.] 

Children, children, hear Love's call. 
Haste ye to her bidding, all. 

Here is work to do! 
Come and bring your little band 
From the outside where you stand. 

Love doth call for you. 

This song may be spoken if the music given is too hard. 

Enter band of Juniors from Missionary Society, each wearing golden crown 
and bearing in his hand either a bright flower or a fern. Leader should carry a 
banner on which are the words " Love's Helpers — Junior Missionary Band." 

Juniors 
Singing to Love. 
Love, we come with joyous mirth, 
Bearing flowers of the earth, 

Flowers bright and gay. 
Will our dear Love deign to use 
Fragrances that these diffuse, 
Colors theirs to-day? 



88 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Love 

Answering. 

Yes, she will; for all things bright 
Are most precious in her sight, 

And she loves to see 
Children come with blossoms fair, 
Scattering dullness everywhere, 

Spreading jollity. 

Let us now these sweet gifts take, 
And with them a garden make 

Of this cheerless place. 
Reds and yellows, greens, until 
We shall rival fair Brazil 

With her charm and grace! 

All set to beautifying stage, the hardest of which may have been done be- 
forehand. Make it very gay and festive with brightest and showiest flowers 
obtainable. Decorators then pretend to listen, after which they suddenly hide 
anywhere they can. Occasionally they peep out. 

Enter Dorothy Dane, a North American white child. Brings a doll, cloth to 
make a doll dress, a game that may be played by a single child, and several 
storybooks. Sits down and sews for a while, sticks her finger and tosses away 
sewing. Begins to play the game she has brought, but soon tires of it too. 
Reads then. Finally sighs and puts chin in hand. 

Dorothy 

Speaking aloud. 
O, dear, I am so tired of everything. I hate being the only 
child. It's so lonesome! What fun is there in having toys 
and things when there is nobody but me to see them? I wish 
I were a twin or had a little sister or somebody to talk to! 
Wonder why God didn't give me a sister, anyway? I've 
wanted one so! 

Lays face on arm across back of chair in lonely fashion. Presently rises, 
shakes back her hair, and starts from room with toys. Stops to examine 
book she sees on table. 

Dorothy 

With interest. 

Where did this book come from? I never saw it before. 
[Sits down again and turns pages and then reads. Talks to 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 89 

herself.] It's a book on Brazil, and I've always wanted to see 
that country. And here's pictures! Look at the vines and 
plants and — and trees of red and yellow and white blossoms. 
How pretty they are! And here's a tree with all kinds of 
strange birds sitting over it just as if they were blooming 
there! Blue birds and red birds and green birds and gold 
birds and white birds! Phew! And here's ponds of white 
water lilies, with long-legged storks wading in them. And 
see that bird house in that high tree; it has a porch, and the 
whole bird family is standing on it cooling off! Wouldn't 
it be just grand to visit in Brazil? I wonder what kind of 
children live there. 

Enter Spirit of Love. She beckons to her helpers, who nod and run off stage 
at back. Spirit stands invisibly near Dorothy, who is still looking at book, and 
waves her fairy wand back and forth, finally slipping behind her and waving it 
over her head. Then goes out. 

Dorothy 

Looking up. 

I wish — why, where am I? This place looks just like the 
picture book. [Runs to flowers and smells and touches them.] 
I wonder — O, I wonder — Here's the flowers and all! I 
wonder if it's really Brazil. If I could just see a little child, I'd 
know. Why, yonder is one! It must be! [Hurries forward 
to meet Brazilian child who is entering.] Why, hello. How 
did you get here? 

Child 

With surprise. 

What a funny question ! Anybody is supposed to be where 
home is, isn't she? This is Brazil. Brazil is where I live. 
Where did you come from? 

Dorothy. 

I don't know. When I came in, I thought this was the 
United States. I was just reading about you in a book about 
Brazil. May I stay and visit you a while? I've wanted so 
much to see you. I'm Dorothy Dane. My country's the. 
United States. 



90 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Brazilian Child. 
My name is Anita. 

Dorothy. 

Anita! What a pretty name! You must be very happy 
here among all the beautiful flowers and things, aren't you, 
Anita? 

A nita. 

Sometimes; and then sometimes I want — just something 
different. I don't know what 'tis, nor why it is I want it. It 
can't be because I haven't everything I ask for, for my people 
are wealthy, and I get all that any rich little girl ought to have. 
We have plenty of money, a beautiful home with lovely gar- 
dens about it, and my papa and mamma are good to me 
They celebrate for me with feasting and dancing when my 
birthday comes; and try to educate me in good schools where 
fine manners are taught. But yet I want something else. I 
hate to go to school. 

Dorothy. 
You hate to go to school? Why? 

A nita. 

Surprised. 

Why, because I'm watched all the time there, that's why. 
It is just like a jail. You can't have any fun of the kind you 
wish unless you slip and do things. Then the Superior is 
likely to find you out and punish you. Lots of children tell 
lies when they are caught. Sometimes I do. You have to. 

Dorothy. 

Tell lies? O, but that is wicked. God does not love chil- 
dren who tell lies and deceive people. Don't you go to Sun- 
day school? 

Anita. 

Sunday school? What is that? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 91 

Dorothy. 

Why, that is where children go every Sunday to hear beau- 
tiful stories about God and Jesus, his Son, who loves them. 
And don't you like to sing? There they sing the prettiest 
songs for children. I wish you could hear how our Sunday 
school sings. Don't you have a place like that where you go 
to church and have a religion? 

Anita. 

Haughtily. 
Of course we do, but we don't have to go to church to learn 
religion. We finish that at school. There we learn prayers 
to the Virgin and to lots of the saints, and our school tries to 
get ahead of every other school in the number of children it 
can have to take the first communion. The children who 
are going to take it don't eat beforehand, and they go to a 
priest for confession; and when the day comes all the girls go 
to church dressed as brides, with wreaths and veils. 

Dorothy. 
Dressed as brides? What is that for? 

A nita. 
I don't know. We just do it. Then there are the festival 
days when we have processions on the street in honor of the 
saints or the angels or somebody else. Some processions sing 
songs in Latin as they go. Sh! This is Angels' Day, and here 
is a procession now 

Enter procession of children dressed as little angels. In the left hand 
they carry baskets of flowers; in the right lighted candles. Let them pass 
around the stage in circle then come out. 

Anita. 
Wasn't that pretty? I love all these things, but I don't 
understand them. 

As Anita speaks, enter two other Brazilian children, one from middle class 
and one from very poor. Following these come four Indian maids who repre- 
sent the four chief Indian stocks of Brazil. All listen to Anita's last words. 



92 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Delia 
Second Brazilian child. 
I am not wealthy, as Anita is, but my house is very com- 
fortable. My religion is quite like hers, too. 

Uuama 

I am a child of the very poor. My home is a dark little 
hut of one or two rooms, into which little sunlight reaches. 
I have a baby brother. He wears about his neck a tiny 
charm so that he will cut his teeth easily. I am larger than 
he is, and so I wear this little flannel heart to bring me a spe- 
cial blessing. My mother wears a Latin prayer sewed up in 
leather. Once my brother grew very sick. My mother went 
to the image of the Blessed Virgin and prayed that my brother 
get well. She promised there that if he was spared to her, 
she would not cut his hair for three years. After that she 
would cut it and hang it near the image. That would please 
the Holy Virgin. My brother got well again. Do you be- 
lieve in the Virgin? 

Dorothy. 

O, no. My mother says those beliefs are mistakes. It is 
Jesus who heals. 

Uuama. 

Jesus? The Jesus who is on the little brass charm which 
the priest sells to prevent misfortune? 

Dorothy. 
No, that is wrong. Jesus is with God the Father — God who 
made the world and all of us. 

First Indian. 
God who made the world? Was it not the Great Spirit 
who made us all? I belong to a tribe of Arawak Indians here 
in Brazil, and we believe there is a great Spirit who made 
everything. When he had completed the heavens and the 
earth, he seated himself on a silk cotton tree by the riverside, 
and from it cut off bark which he cast all about. The pieces 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 93 

which touched the water became fish; those that touched the 
air, birds; those that touched the earth, animals and men. 
Is this Great Spirit the God you meant? 

Second Indian. 
We do not believe like the Arawaks. There is no great 
Spirit. The earth is our "Mother." Her name is Mama 
Nono. All good things come from her. 

Third Indian. 

I am of the tribe of Tupi-guarani. The Sun is our giver of 
good. The Moon distributes evil. Sometimes the Moon 
falls to the earth and wrecks it with thunders and with floods. 
We fear her. 

Fourth Indian. 

The Tapuyas are the oldest of the four tribes of Brazil. 
They say that once Anatima, the Demon, sent a flood to de- 
stroy the world. Now, because they are afraid of the Powers 
of the Storm, they shoot arrows into the sky or shake burning 
brands at it, so that such trouble will not come again. 

Dorothy. 
O, do you believe all these things? Has no one told you of 
the beautiful love of Jesus, God's Son — how, when the world 
was wicked and didn't know that God was remembering it 
and really loving it, Jesus gave up all his riches in heaven, 
his throne and everything, to come down here and tell us all 
how to be good and happy, so that we might come and live 
with him some day? And I think the prettiest thing about 
it all was that it wasn't just grown folks he loved; it was chil- 
dren, too, children like us. 

Brazilian Children. 

In concert. 

Are those things you are telling true? Then why hasn't 

somebody been here to tell us about Jesus? Does he not love 

Brazilian children? Has he no place here in which we might 

learn about him? 

The Spirit of Love enters and stands just behind the children. She listens to 
the last remark of the Brazilian children, then waves her wand gently and dis- 



94 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



appears. Outside sweet voices sing verse and chorus of "Jesus Loves Me," at 
the conclusion of which a child trom a Brazilian mission school enters and 
speaks. 

Child from School. 

Yes, Jesus loves you. See, I am from Brazil, too, and I 
know. And there is a place where you may go to learn of 
him. There are many schools here in Brazil where his love is 
taught. Once I did not know about them, but one day my 
mother heard about them. Then she went 1,150 miles 
through a wild, desolate country to put me in the school she 
chose. I did not know how to read then, but now I do. I can 
read the word of Jesus in his Bible. I can sing the songs that 
tell of his love. I am learning to sew and cook and study and 
to play with others in a beautiful playground. Come, I will 
show you the place, and you may stay there, too. 
All follow mission school child from stage. 

Dorothy. 

Left alone. 

Good-by, dear children. I have had such an interesting 
visit with you. I hope you will come to my country to see 
me sometime. [Turns to front.] I am going to tell the Jun- 
ior Missionary Society all about those children. Why, I be- 
lieve I'll just go and join that society myself. I never did 
want to before; but if these are the kinds of things they know 
about, I'll be obliged to be one of their members, too, and 
then I'll never be lonely again. I won't have time. I wish 
they were here this minute. But, O, I forgot; this is Brazil 
where I am! [Spirit of Love appears and waves her wand, 
then disappears. Dorothy looks around.] Why, no it, isn't! 
Have I been dreaming? And I do believe I hear the Mission- 
ary Society coming, just singing as they come! 

Enter Junior Band and stand, singing; song, "I think when I read the sweet 
story of. old " Dorothy rises and sings with them, holding her doll the while. 

Curtain. 
Hymn Missionary Band sings at close: No 682, in Methodist Hymnal. Sing 
entire hymn. 

BY ALLEINE FRIDY. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 95 

CUBA LIBRE. 

For Intermediate boys and girls. 

Translated and Arranged by Miss Belle Markev and R. 
L. Whitehead. 

Scene I. 

Showing Indian life, with wigwam, camp fire, etc. Seashore, with tropical 
scenery. Various Indians about camp fire. 
Two Indians down front. 

First Indian. 
May the Sun, whom we adore as God of heaven and earth, 
ever bless our beloved Cuba! 

Second Indian. 

So may it be! And in our hearts reign contentment and 
love; for under this fairest of skies, caressed by a tropical sun, 
all our wants are supplied without effort or pain. 

First Indian. 

With his golden rays the Sun warms the wide savannahs 
and causes the seed to swell and burst, and our little crops to 
grow; the limpid brooklet winds peacefully through the grass- 
lands murmuring his song of spring. 

Second Indian. 

The balmy breeze brings to us the tender song of the mock- 
ing bird from her nest in the giant ceiba. 

First Indian. 
And in my simple canoe I cross the waters without fear. 

Second Indian. 

During the hours of the day when the Sun's rays are hot- 
test I rest in the shade of the trees in my hammock woven by 



96 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

the gentlest of hands. The earth gives her many colored 
flowers, of which I make lovely garlands and bear them in 
offering to the departing Sun. 

First Indian. 

We honor our chief, and his orders we obey; and peace ever 
reigns. But if those from another tribe invade our lands, 
we raise our prayers to heaven and prepare our arrows; and at 
the command of our chief we rush forth to defend our honor 
and our homes. 

Second Indian. 

May Heaven grant us peace in our hearts, and may we al- 
ways be as free as the breezes ! But let us away; the Sun has 
graciously hidden his splendor behind the clouds, and we 
must needs begin our daily tasks. 

Columbus appears with flags, sailors, a priest, etc. Indians show great as- 
tonishment, some running away, some timidly approaching as curtain falls. 

Scene II. 

Two Cubans. 

First Cuban. 

Happy indeed those Indians, who, living always in peace in 
their loved land, enjoyed liberty! 

Second Cuban. 

Happy indeed were they; for theirs were the earth and the 
sea until that sad day when Spain first placed foot upon these 
shores. On that day they lost their precious freedom, and 
one by one they passed into eternity until none of that noble, 
simple race remains. 

First Cuban. 

We, the sons of Cuba! Shall our fate be the same? All 
that Cuba has is held by those beyond the seas, and their 
cruel chains enthrall us. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 97 

Second Cuban. 

Even thought is enchained; to speak is a crime. They 
come, they enrich themselves, they command, and the Cuban 
must obey and keep silent, else he finds himself behind thick, 
cold prison walls or in dismal exile far from his home. 

First Cuban. 

Yet in the depths of our souls the hope lives on that some 
day our flag, the flag of a free country, will float over us. 

Second Cuban. 

Marti in the North is calling upon valiant souls who would 
realize this hope to raise the battle cry for liberty. 

First Cuban. 
Thinkest thou we shall triumph in the struggle? 

Second Cuban. 

Aye, let no one doubt it, since right is ours, and God will 
aid us. 

First Cuban. 
Will blood be spilt? 

Second Cuban. 

Yea, verily. But what matters that we die in unequal con- 
flict? If the enemy is strong, our hearts are stronger; and if 
we fall with the flag, there will remain our example for our 
children and humanity forever. 

The Cuban national hymn is heard without. 

Second Cuban. 

Hark! The sacred song which inflames the patriot's 
breast; the voice which cries to us: " Die for liberty!" 

First Cuban. 
To the combat ! Let us hasten ! 

7 



98 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Second Cuban. 
Our country, our mother is calling us! (Kneels in prayer.) 

Eternal Father, Holy God, 

God of infinite mercy; 

Guard with thine eye our homes; 

Lovingly keep those who remain behind. 

Watch over them, O God ! 

First Cuban, {kneeling.) 
May thy infinite mercy cover them 
As a mantle; and permit, O Father, 
That in this unequal conflict 
The glorious emblem of liberty may triumph! 

Amen! 
Both rise. 
The call comes again! La Patria calls her children. To 
triumph or to die! 

Go out. 

Scene III. 

Two girls, one representing Cuba, the other Columbia. 
Cuba on the stage alone. 

Cuba. 
The terrible conflict has ceased; the trumpet calls no more. 
Honor has broken in a thousand places the chains with which 
the tyrant bound us. That noble nation of the north, Amer- 
ica, sent to our aid her valiant sons. They with noble broth- 
erly love have borne us on to victory, and our history is made 
glorious with names that shine as the sun. 

Enter Columbia, bearing the Cuban flag and the Bible. 
Columbia. 
Young and heroic Cuba, thy victorious flag, long hidden 
among thy rugged hills and in thy solitary woods, may float 
to-day free and splendid over the ramparts of the vanquished 
enemy. In thy hands I place the sacred emblem of thy lib- 
erties, the ensign of a great, heroic people. 
Gives Cuba the flag. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 99 



Cuba 

America, great America! If my triumph is great, no less is 
thine Thou hast placed in my hands the banner thou hast 
torn from Spanish masts amid hurrahs of victory and groans 
of the dying — the banner that covered Cespedes and Marti, 
Maceo and Agromonte. To-day I can only offer thee in the 
name of my people this embrace, which is the expression of 
my deepest gratitude. 

Embraces her. 

Columbia. 

Thou owest me nothing, dear Cuba. Born, both of us, in 
this new western world where the sun shines brightest and 
the soil is richest, the energy of our exuberant earth palpi- 
tated in our blood and in our souls, and our spirits longed to 
be as free as the birds that flit in heaven's blue above us. 
Dost thou not hear the thundering voice of a people which 
acclaims and blesses thee? 

Cuba. 

Liberty! Let the sweet note sound from our teeming 
cities to the deserted shores, from virgin forest to cultivated 
plain. In this solemn moment we incline our heads in tribute 
of respect and love to those who have given their lives that we 
might see this glorious day. 

Bow heads in silence. 

Columbia. 

Cuba, I bid thee now farewell. I, rejoicing in thy freedom, 
leave thee. Thou art free and sovereign, yet thou art young 
and inexperienced and unaccustomed to liberty. Shall I give 
thee counsel? If thou wouldst be truly free, take now this Book 
the charter of thy liberty; take thou this Bible, this holy Word 
of God which has been hid from thee these centuries by a false 
priesthood. Take thou this Book and teach it to thy children. 
In its pages will they find how to attain unto a truer and hap- 
pier liberty than they now enjoy They will learn of Jesus, 



100 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

who said: " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 
you free." He himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; 
and if he the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed. 

Cuba. 

Thank you, Columbia. We shall ever prize this holy B ook 
thou hast given us, trusting that by its guidance we shall ar- 
rive at the temple of true liberty, coming to know this Jesus, 
the Saviour and Liberator of whom thou hast spoken. 

Suggestions: At the close it might be well to have presented a drill with pa- 
triotic music, the children bearing Cuban and American flags. 



MARIA. 

An Incident on the Campus of Holston Institute, Songdo, 

Korea. 
A dramatization for Intermediate girls. 

Characters Represented. 

Ma-ri-a, the twelve- year-old daughter of the wealthy Mr. Pak, of the village 
of Taj in, and his small wife. 

Chung Chang Su (Chung is surname), a student of Holston Institute and 
daughter of Pastor Chung, of the same village, about sixteen years old. 

Chason, another student of Holston Institute, who has been rescued by the 
Christians from a life of slavery. 

Missionary, the principal of Holston Institute. 

Costumes. 

The two students of the school should have the school uniform, which is 
black cotton shirt, high waist, empire effect, swings from shoulders by means 
of an underbody; white waist over the underbody, short, like "mother hub- 
bard" effect, sleeves cut in same piece with waist, kimono style, but not large 
at wrist like Japanese kimono. 

Maria, as the daughter of a wealthy home, may wear finer clothes or brighter 
colors. A bright red skirt, of silk or cotton, made the same way, and the short 
empire waist of bright green. She should show that she has just come in from 
a long, hard journey. Head should be tied up turban wise with a white head 
cloth; no stockings; wrap the feet in cloths or rags; her feet have been blis- 
tered by the way. Maria should be a very pretty and attractive, rather deli- 
cate-looking girl. 

The missionary should be dressed in simple style, not old-fashioned enough 
to be ridiculous. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 101 

Properties. 

Any outdoor scene will be appropriate. This is designed for a summer enter- 
tainment; any lawn with old trees and pretty grass and flowers will be all right; 
the Old World atmosphere may be easily given by building up a well mouth 
with rough unhewn rock two or three feet above the ground. 

Chason carries a bundle of needlework, embroidery, knitting, tatting, and 
crocheting. 

Scene. 

An exterior. Large, beautiful old trees for a background; and old well with 
curb built of large, square rocks, a bucket on the curb. Maria is seen standing 
near the well, her bundle of clothes still on her back, looking with awe and admi- 
ration at the school buildings supposed to be in the foreground. 

Maria. 
This is the school at last! How beautiful it is! But how 
queer to build one room on top of another like that ! See, one, 
two, three — three rooms on top of the other, and all of stone! 
I never saw anything like that before. What a queer roof, 
too; it's neither straw thatch nor clay tile. I don't just know 
what it is, red like that. Lovely, lovely flowers too, and all 
just for girls. Who else but the Jesus believers would care to 
build a beautiful school like that for girls, for Korean girls? 
I wonder if heaven will be anything like this? [Sits down on 
a stone by the well, takes her foot in her hand, and then sobs 
with pain.] O, dear, my feet do hurt and burn so. I'm sure 
that we have walked hundreds and hundreds of miles since 
we left our village. That was only five days ago, but it seems 
ages and ages. My feet blistered the second day out on the 
journey, and I feel that it would kill me to walk another step. 
Enter Chason, a student. 

Chason. 
Why, where did you come from, little stranger? 

Maria. 

{Standing up, but fiinching from the pain.) 

I came from away beyond the mountains, from the village 
of Taj in. 

Chason. 

Poor child! You must be very tired; that is a long way. 
Did you come to go to school? 



102 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Maria. 

That is the thing of all others that I most want, but I do not 
know yet. You see [wiping away the tears] I am only a small 
wife's child, and a girl. My father has money, but he does not 
care for me. I came with Pastor Chung; he has a daughter 
in school. He brought rice and clothes for her. Do you 
know a girl in school named Chung Chang Su? 

Chason. 

Yes, indeed, I do; she is my roommate. There now, please 
don't cry. I'll run and tell teacher, and I'm very sure that if 
there is a possible chance she will keep you. 
Exit Chason. 

Maria. 

O, what will I do if they send me back again? How can I 
ever walk all that weary way again with these poor blistered 
feet? Chang Su will not be glad to see me, for she would have 
to divide her rice with me. I don't mind being hungry, and I 
could eat just a little bit; but she would not have enough left. 
I just can't take Chang Su's rice. 

Enter missionary. Chang Su, and Chason, the latter with a bundle of needle 
work, lace, etc., in her hands. 

Chang Su. 
Embraces Maria with great affection and leads her to the missionary. 
This is the little girl who came with my father this morning. 
Her name is Pak Maria. 

Missionary. 
Takes her hand and draws her to her side. 
I'm very glad to meet you, Maria. That is a Christian 
name, the Korean pronunciation of our English Mary. 

Chang Su. 
Yes, teacher, she does the doctrine. None of the others in 
her family do, however, and that has made it very hard for 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 10.1 

her. She didn't have a sure-enough name until she was bap- 
tized, and then they called her " Maria. " 

Missionary. 
Where, then, did you learn the Jesus doctrine, little girl? 

Maria. 
Why, Chang Su told me all about it. Her father is the pas- 
tor of the little Church in our village, and she knows all the 
most wonderful, beautiful things I ever dreamed of in my life. 
She first told me, then I went to the Sunday school and church 
where I learned all that I know. 

Missionary. 
I'm glad, Chang Su, that my girls do real missionary work 
at home. [Turning to Maria.] Do your father and mother 
object to your being a Christian? 

Maria. 
At first they only laughed at me and said that since I was 
only a girl it didn't matter if I did foolish things; but after- 
wards, when he commanded me to stay away from the Chris- 
tians and burned my Bible and hymn book, he got very angry 
because I did not stop praying and because I still sang my 
songs. He doesn't like it now. 

Hangs her head sorrowfully. 

Missionary. 

But how, then, did you get to come here to a Christian 
school? 

Maria. 

When Chang Su came away first to school 1 was very sad; 
I was glad that she was to learn all about the great wonder- 
ful world and the people across the sea, and I knew that I 
should be very happy if I only knew a little bit of all that. 
Chang Su promised all the village children that she would 
teach us when she came home from school, and every vaca- 



104 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

tion she has a little school in her father's house and teaches us 
there. I can read my Bible now. 

Missionary. 
But you did not wait for vacation again? 

Maria. 
Hides her face on her arms and shakes with sobs. 
No, O, no! I could not wait any longer. 

Chang Su. 
Puts her arm about Maria's shoulder. 

Now, dear, please don't cry. I'll tell her all about it. 
[Turns to missionary.] You see, teacher, it was this way: 
Her father is a very wicked man, and he said that she was 
getting too many queer foreign notions into her head to marry 
her well. He was very angry when she would not stop pray- 
ing to God, and then when a man from the city came along 
and offered a good price for her he thought that would be a 
good way to dispose of a troublesome problem; so he planned 
to sell her. 

Missionary. 

Poor child! A slave's life! Did you run away then? 

Maria. 
Her face lighted with love and joy. 

O no, teacher. It was Chang Su's father, Pastor Chung. 
Then he went to my father and — well, I don't know just ex- 
actly what he did say to him, but it made him very angry. 
He stormed and raged about so we all ran away and hid. But 
I do know that Pastor Chung paid for me what the wicked 
man from the city was to pay, thirty yen l £15 U. S. money), 
which was more than Mr. Chung's salary for a whole month. 
That is why I am so sad. Mrs. Chung and Chang Su have no 
new clothes this spring, and that is why he had to bring part 
of her food in millet instead of white rice; and my own father 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 105 

threw me away. He refused to see my face when I left. He 
said I was no longer his child. But these dear friends suffer 
for me, and I am so helpless and can do nothing to help to 
pay them back. 

Chang Su. 
Now, Maria, don't be so sad. You know that the rice and 
millet father carried on his back is for both of us. You are 
now my little sister, and part is yours. 

Maria. 
Yes, he carried it all those long, weary miles, and I know 
that it is just the same number of mal that he bought for you 
last month, Chang Su. You will have only half that I may 
eat. 

Missionary. 
How is that, Chang Su? Are you planning to divide your 
food with Maria? 

Chang Su. 

Digs her toe into the earth and hangs her head. 

I'd'love to do it. She is my little sister now. 

Maria. 

You see, the reason I am so much ashamed is because my 
father is rich. He has many rice fields and servants, while 
Pastor Chung's family go hungry and maybe suffer for my 
sake. O, 1 should love to work, to use my own hands and 
earn my living. But I do not know how to do anything. 
What could I do? They only trained me to look like a lady 
that I might bring a bigger price. I cannot take Chang Su's 
rice from her after all that her father has done for me. 

Missionary. 
You dear, brave child! Are you really willing to work? 

Maria. 
O, yes, teacher; indeed, I am. I will do anything if you 
will only teach me how. Let me be your servant. 



106 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Missionary. 
Here, girls, show her some of your work. [Chason unrolls 
bundle of embroidery, tatting, chochet, etc., and spreads it 
on the missionary's lap ] There, Maria, would you like to 
learn to do work like this? 

Maria. 
Gazes in wonder and admiration with clasped hands. 

How wonderful! How beautiful! But I could never earn 
to do anything like this. 

Chason. 

But she will teach you, as she has taught us. 

Maria. 

Could you really, teacher? Would my stiff hands ever do 
that work? 

Missionary. 

Yes, certainly. Many other little girls like you have 
learned it. 

Maria. 

But that will not help me to stay here and not eat Chang 
Su's rice. 

Chason. 

That is the lovely thing about it- Teacher helps us to 
help ourselves. You will not eat Chang Su's rice, or Mr. 
Chung's rice, either, but your very own. 

Maria. 
But I do not understand. I have no rice. 

Missionary. 

There, girls; let me explain to her. Maria, there are good 
women across the seas who love Jesus, and because they love 
him they love also the little ones, like you, whom Jesus loves. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 107 

They have made a way to help such little girls to help earn 
their own way through school. We like this beautiful spirit 
you have of wanting to earn your own rice. They do it for 
the same reason that Pastor Chung saved you from a slave's 
life. 

Maria. 

It seems too good to be true. [Looks about her at build- 
ing and grounds.] Stay in this lovely place? Learn to do 
these beautiful things? Not to have to do sinful things? 
Pastor Chung says that sin is the only thing to really fear; so 
I was not afraid when father beat me, but I would have died 
before going with a bad man. Can I really stay here? 

Missionary. 

Yes, we will be happy to keep you here as one of our family, 
and then when you are grown perhaps you can help others, as 
Chason there does. 

Chason. 

Truly, Maria, my story was something like yours. My 
wicked father sold me for a debt at the wine shop; and be- 
cause I, too, was a Christian, the friends in the little meeting- 
house in the village somehow got the money to save me from 
being sold and then brought me to this beautiful place. It is 
like heaven, because it is a place of love and peace. Teacher 
says it is better for us to work than to have everything given 
us, and that it will make us true and strong and brave. 

Maria. 
Did you do all that lovely work? 

Chason. 

Not all. You see I help the new girls with their work, too; 
I'm sort of student teacher. Next year, when I finish here, I 
am going back to my native village and start a little school 
there, and I want more than anything else to teach the other 
little girls there who have not had such an opportunity. 



108 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Maria. 
I am so happy now. My heart is as light as a flower. Pas- 
tor Chung said that God would prepare a way if I would only 
trust and not be afraid. 

Chason. 
The Bible says that when my father and mother forsake me 
then the Lord will take me up. How thankful we should be, 
Maria, that God loves children such as we! 

Maria. 
What is this music? 

"Jesus Loves Me, This I Know" sung softly behind the curtain. 

Chang Su. 
It is time for evening prayers. The girls are singing in the 
chapel. Let us join them. 

Curtain. 

— By Miss Ellasue Wagner. 

SICK IN CHINA. 

For Intermediate boys and girls. 

Actors: Grandmother, mother, sick son, five daughters, Christian nurse, Chi- 
nese doctors, and neighbors. 

Part I. 

Son lies on bed hung with thick curtains. Grandmother is huddled by the 
side of the bed, while mother and five daughters cluster about the sick boy and 
watch him anxiously. 

Mother. 
Son, why don't you get up? The boys are playing in the 
street. Are you sick? 

Son. 

I am so tired, mother; please let me sleep a little longer. 

The mother pulls the curtains together and goes away, motioning the 
children to be quiet. 

Grandmother. 

I hate to think that my only grandson is lacking in strength 
and bravery. Really he must be sick, but for fear he is just 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 109 

faint-hearted we must get some ground tiger bone and give 
him. Then he will have strength and courage. 

Mother. 
How can we give him ground tiger bone? It is all we can 
do to feed the family as it is, and tiger bone is expensive. 

Grandmother. 
Sell one of the girls. Girls are of little value. If you will 
sell one of them, there will be one less mouth to feed, and you 
will have money to buy the tiger bone to cure your son. 

The mother goes to the son again and tries to rouse him, but he sinks 
back on the bed. 

Grandmother. 
What did I tell you? Tiger bone is what the child needs. 
If the man of the family is not strong and brave, the whole 
family is lost. Sell one of the girls. 

Mother. 
Who would buy one? 

Grandmother. 
Our neighbor across the way was hunting for a wife for his 
brother's son. He asked me yesterday if you would sell one of 
your daughters. I told him I was sure you would. 

Mother. 
But I do not want to do that. I love my daughters. 

Grandmother. 
You should love your son more than all your daughters. I 
shall go tell the neighbor that you will sell one. 

Mother. 
Which child can we spare best? The older girls are such a 
help to the family, and the younger ones are so cunning and 
sweet. 

Grandmother. 
Then sell the middle daughter. Come, child. 



110 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Middle Daughter. 
Do I have to go, mother? 

Mother. 
Yes, dear, I guess you do. Your brother's life must be 
saved. 

The cripple old grandmother and the little girl leave the room. The 
mother weeps and the girls gathei about her. One little girl watches at 
the door and announces. 

A Daughter. 

Grandmother is coming back. Sister is not with her, but 
the neighbor is coming. 

The mother gives a hysterical wail just as the grandmother enters. She 
cries and laughs and cries and laughs. The neighbor looks at the woman 
and says: 

Neighbor. 

She has hysterics. There is nothing so good for hysterics 
as bugs put up the nose. 

Grandmother. 
I have no bugs 

Two Smaller Children. 
We will catch you some, grandmother. 

They dart about the room and pick bugs from the cracks in the wall and 
carry them to the grandmother. 

Neighbor. 

That kind of bug will not do. They must be bought. 
You can buy them when you buy the tiger bone for the boy. 

Grandmother, 
I had better go and buy the medicines now. 

The grandmother is badly crippled, and it is all she can do to walk; but 
she starts out bravely. The mother becomes calm. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 111 

Mother. 
Is there anything that I can do for my son before the 
medicine comes? 

Neighbor. 
Wrap him in blankets. 

Mother. 
But the day is very hot. 

Neighbor. 
That does not matter. He should be wrapped. That is 
what they did for my son. 

The two wrap the son in blankets, and the child comes to himself enough 
to resist them. 

Neighbor. 

Sit on his head. 

Mother. 

I am afraid I might smother him. 

Neighbor. 
Well, what if you should? My son was smothered, but 
I relieved my conscience by doing all I could for him. 

Mother. 
I will not smother my child. 

Neighbor. 
Very well; I am going home, if that is all the appreciation 
you have for the help I tried to give you. 
Exit neighbor. 
Grandmother returns with two native doctors. 

Grandmother. 
Here are two doctors, I met them on the way. They will 
cure the boy. 

Two doctors bend over the child and examine him. 



112 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

First Doctor. 

The child has dyspepsia. He should drink a cup of ground 
stone and water every day. I have a patient a few miles 
away from here who has been taking this treatment for two 
years. In that time he has used forty pounds of stone. 
Surely the day of his recovery is not far away. 

Second Doctor. 

The child has trouble with his liver and lungs. The only 
cure is to run rusty needles into these organs and burn the flesh 
to let out the evil spirits that lurk there and cause the trouble. 

First Doctor. 
You will kill the child. It is dyspepsia he has. 

Second Doctor. 
It is not dyspepsia; it is his liver and lungs. 

Grandmother 
Wailing and holding her knee. 

I have walked too much. I have walked too much. My 
knee, my poor knee ! 

Both doctors leave the boy and hasten to her. 

Both Doctors. 

Rheumatism. A sharp cut above the knee and a liberal 
application of cayenne pepper will cure her. 

Grandmother. 
Anything! 

The two doctors bend over the old lady, and one cuts her limb, while the other 
administers the application of pepper. The old lady screams with pain. 

Grandmother. 
Leave the house. Go! 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 113 

Both Doctors. 
We must have pay. 

Grandmother. 
Take this and go. 

She hands them half of the money she received for the little girl. 
Exeunt doctors. 

Mother. 

Did you give them all the money you had? 

Grandmother. 

Half. I would have given them all to get them out of the 
house. My poor knee, my poor knee! 

Enter three neighbors. 

One Neighbor. 

We heard that your son is sick. So many families have ill- 
ness. The people are going to give a parade and a play in the 
temple to the five rulers. We hope in this way to pacify these 
evil spirits and stop the disease. We want to know if you will 
give money for this play in the temple. 

Grandmother. 
We had just as well. The doctors cannot help us. 

The grandmother gives the rest of the money. Exeunt neighbors. The boy 
tosses and turns on the bed. 

Mother. 

Come, daughter, see if you cannot keep the flies from alight- 
ing on him. They seem to annoy him. But fan them very 
gently and be careful not to kill any, for our dead ancestors 
have entered into the bodies of animals and insects, and we 
would not offend them and thus bring more trouble upon us. 

The sister sits beside her brother and fans him gently. Enter American nurse 
dressed in uniform. 

8 



114 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Nurse. 

I heard that your son is not well. Can I help you? 

Mother. 

We have no money. We sold a daughter to have money to 
make him well; but the money is all spent, and he is still sick. 

Grandmother. 

My knee, my poor knee! 

Nurse. 

Let me see your knee. How did this happen? 

Grandmother. 
The doctors cut it to let out the demons. 

Nurse. 
Let me dress it for you. 

Nurse opens her bag and dresses the knee. 

Grandmother. 

Better, lots better right now. Can't you do something for 
the boy? He is the only man in the family. 

Nurse. 

We have a lovely hospital upon the hill where we can get 
him well if you will let him go. 

Grandmother. 

Is that where they preach the Jesus doctrine? 

Nurse. 

Yes, and make sick people well. 

Mother. 

So many people have been cured there. I wish my boy 
could go, but we have no money. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 115 

Nurse. 

We have a free bed at the hospital. May I send for the 
boy? 

Mother and Grandmother. 
Yes, yes! 

Curtain. 

Part II. 

Son in rolling chair. Mother sitting beside him. Nurse gives che boy a 
drink of water. 

Nurse. 

Yes, your son has done remarkably well. The doctor says 
he can go home next week. 

Mother. 

I am so glad! Aren't you glad, son? You look sad. 

Son. 

Yes, mother, I am glad. I love you and grandmother and 
my sisters, but everything is so nice and clean here that I hate 
to leave. 

Mother. 

If you feel that way, I shall have to tell you the secret I was 
saving until you got home. We are all Christians now, 
son, and our house is so clean that you will hardly recognize 
it. We have Sunday school in our home every Sunday, and 
many of the neighbors come. The people who live near us 
are so glad that you are getting well that they want to know 
about the Jesus doctrine. 

Son. 

I had the most wonderful dream last night. I dreamed that 
the children in America, and the grown people too, are learn- 
ing about our doctors in China and how they do not know 
how to treat sick people, and these kind friends in America are 
planning to have a great medical school in Shanghai to train 
our doctors to take care of us when we are sick. 



116 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Nurse. 

That was not a dream. That is really, truly fact. You 
heard the nurses and the doctors talking about it while you 
were sick. Over in America they are having what they call 
a Week of Prayer and Self- Denial, and a large part of the 
money that they get will be spent on this school. 

Son. 

I love the people in America. But O — O, I had another 
dream while I was sick! I hope it is not true, for it is an evil 
dream. I thought that my middle sister was sold to buy me 
medicine. Tell me that was really a dream. 

Mother. 

That is a fact, too; but the greatest thing has happened 
since then: a missionary bought her and sent her to a Chris- 
tian school. Your sister says that she is going to be a nurse 
some day. 

Son. 

A nurse like my good nurse here? 

Nurse. 
Yes, indeed. 

Son. 

China is such a happy land when people who know the 
Jesus doctrine find you and begin to care for you. How I 
wish that every Httle sick boy in China could have a nurse like 
mine to get him well! How I wish that every little girl in 
China who has been sold could be bought by a missionary and 
sent to a Christian school! 

Curtain. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 117 

LUPE'S STRANGE HOLIDAYS. 

A dialogue for two girls eight to ten years of age. 

Elizabeth meets her little Mexican friend, Lupe, who is a new American 
from Mexico. 

Elizabeth. 

O Lupe : where have you been? Have you been sick? 
Goodness! I don't like for you to stay away. It doesn't 
seem one bit nice when you are not here. 

Lupe. 

O Elizabeth, did you miss me? I missed you, too; but my, 
Elizabeth, I have had the best time! 

Elizabeth. 
Weren't you sick, Lupe? 

Lupe. 
No, no, Elizabeth. I have been having holidays. 

Elizabeth. 

Holidays? Why, Lupe, we haven't had any holidays! 
What do you mean? 

Lupe. 

Elizabeth, don't you remember it was Holy Week last 
week? We always have holidays on Thursday and Friday 
of Holy Week. We never go to school on these days. 

Elizabeth. 

1 didn't know about that, Lupe. Tell me what makes you 
have holidays, and what do you do on those days? 

Lupe. 

Wei!, come on, Elizabeth; l^t's go and get under one of 
those shady trees and sit down on the grass and I'll tell you. 



118 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

You know what we used to do in Holy Week in our country. 
Thursday we have to go to church with our mammas. We 
don't stay in the church very long, but the grown folks stay 
nearly all day and say prayers to the Holy Mary. 

Elizabeth. 
Who is that, Lupe.? 

Lupe. 

Why, Elizabeth, don't you know that the Holy Mary was 
the mother of Jesus? 

Elizabeth. 

O, is that what you mean? Why do they say prayers to 
her instead of to God. We say our prayers to him. 

Lupe. 

I don't know, but everybody in my country always says 
prayers to the Holy Mary. 

Elizabeth. 
Well, never mind, Lupe, tell me what else you do. 

Lupe. 

Well, we children go down town and on the streets. The 
people have lots of little stands at the edge of the sidewalks 
where they sell more nice toys — skeletons and skulls and candy 
coffins. 

Elizabeth. 

Lupe, what? Skeletons and skulls and candy coffins! 
Why, child, I never heard of such a thing! 

Lupe. 

O, they are just candy toys, and we like them. And then 
they sell Judases too. 

Elizabeth. 
Judases? Lupe, my goodness! what are they? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 119 

Lupe. 

Why, Elizabeth, you know it's a man made of tissue paper. 
You see it is this way: Our mammas buy one, and we take it 
home and keep it until Saturday. Then we hang a rope out 
on the street from our house clear across to the house in front, 
and when eleven o'clock comes that morning all the church 
bells ring like they do here on New Year's. When the bells 
ring we strike a match to our Judas. He is just nearly cov- 
ered with firecrackers. It's more fun when he goes off. Ev- 
erybody's Judas is going off at once, and it makes a lot of 
noise. Then we go to church on Friday. We call it Holy 
Friday. We see the big figure of Jesus on the cross, and, O 
Elizabeth, it just looks awful. All the people look so sad, 
and they all stay kneeling down the longest time. I'm al- 
ways so glad when we get through and go home, then I can 
buy some more toys and play. 

Elizabeth. 

Well, who ever heard of the like? Do you have any other 
holidays different from ours, Lupe? 

Lupe. 
Yes, indeed. Why, there is May 5, March 21, September 
16, Gaudalupe Day, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, Christ- 
mas, and — 

Elizabeth. 

0, Lupe, please tell me about All Saints' Day. 

Lupe. 
Well, on All Saints' Day everybody gets a present, just as 
you do here on Christmas, because it means that it is the day 
of all the saints. You know all of us are named for some 
saint, so you always get a present on your saint's day instead 
of your own birthday. We have lots and lots of toys that 
day, just as we do before Easter; only on this day at those 
little stands there is the cutest little doll furniture, rag dolls, 
little ones dressed up, and there is bread for the dead. 



120 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Elizabeth. 
Bread for the dead! Lupe, what on earth is that? 

Lupe. 

Why, Elizabeth, it's just cake, but it is made for people to 
buy and take to the cemetery and put on the grass where 
their folks are buried. 

Elizabeth. 

Tell me about that, Lupe. 

Lupe. 

All right. Nearly all the children on All Saints' Day have 
a horn, a little tin horn, that they buy at these little stands, 
and we have more fun blowing them. And then the very next 
day is All Souls' Day. That's when we all go out to the ceme- 
tery and take the thing that we remember our folks liked to 
eat when they were living, and we put it down on the ground 
and leave it. That's what we do with that bread of the 
dead. Sometimes we don't take things to eat now, but just 
go and put some flowers on the grave. Some people put 
bright-colored tissue paper chains on their folks' graves, and 
they look so bright. 

Elizabeth. 

Well, Lupe, you surely do have things different from us, 
don't you? 

Lupe. 

Yes, we do, Elizabeth. We have some more little skele- 
tons and skulls and coffins and dead people and things like 
that for toys on All Saints' Day. 

Elizabeth. 

Lupe, come on home with me and let mamma hear about 
your country. She would just love to hear it. 

— Dramatized from a story written by Miss Massey, 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 121 



YOUNG CHRISTIAN WORKER FRIENDS. 

Characters. — Dorothy, Dorothy's mother, a Chinese, a Japanese, a Korean, 
a Mexican, a Brazilian, a French child, a mountain child, an immigrant, a 
Negro. 

Suggestions. — Let tall children ten to fourteen years of age represent the moth- 
er of Dorothy and the immigrant mother. The other children may be younger, 
six to eight, according to the difficulty of the parts taken. When the child's 
speech shows that the conversation of the other children has been heard, let the 
child stand where he can be seen while the others are talking; otherwise let the 
children enter just in time to say their parts. 

Scene. — Bedroom. Dorothy lying on her bed. Her mother sitting beside her. 

Dorothy. 

Mother, I believe I am the loneliest little girl in all the 
world, Betty has moved away, and Charles has the measles. 
Will you tell me a story about some children? [Doorbell 
rings.) O, that is the doorbell! You will have to go down- 
stairs. 

Mother. 

Yes, dear, guests have come. I wish I had a magazine or a 
book for you to read that would tell you about other little 
children. I hate for you to be lonely. Go to sleep if you can. 
Good night. [Mother kisses Dorothy and leaves the room.] 

Dorothy. 

I am as lonely as I can be. [She looks out of the window.) 
The big round moon and I are all alone. I guess she can look 
down on lots of little children. I wish I could be up there 
with her and see some of them and know what they are like 
and what they do. 

Chinese. 

You do not have to be up with the moon to see some one. 
I have come all the way from China to talk to you. [Doro- 
thy sits up in bed and throws a bath robe around her shoul- 
ders.] 

Dorothy. 

China? I know where that is. I had that last week in my 
geography lesson. China is a pink country and very large. 



122 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



China is not pink. 
It is on my map. 



Chinese. 
Dorothy. 



Chinese. 

I live in China, and China is about the color of the United 
States. The dirt is black or some shade of brown. Our 
trees and grass are green. 

Dorothy. 

How queer! You have a book in your hand. Do you go 
to school? 

Chinese. 

Yes, I go to a Christian school. There was no Christian 
school in our country when father was a boy. He had to 
spend many days memorizing the old Chinese books. I study 
the Bible and have the same school lessons that you have. 



I study the Bible. 
Who are you? 



Japanese. 
Dorothy. 



Japanese. 

I am from Japan. When I was a tiny child I went to the 
kindergarten at Hiroshima Girls' School, and I hope to gradu- 
ate at that school some day. I want to be a teacher or a 
trained nurse. 

Dorothy. 

What a lovely kimono you have! Come nearer and let me 
see it. [Japanese girl goes nearer, and Dorothy examines it.] 
Such lovely colors, and your silk sash is beautiful! Do all the 
girls in Japan dress as you do? It must be troublesome to 
keep your kimono clean, for it is so long and the sleeves reach 
nearly to the ground. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 123 

Japanese. 

When my kimono is soiled, my mother rips it up and washes 
it. 

Dorothy. 
Rips it up? Why does she do that? 

Japanese. 
She rips it up because she could not get it on the stretching 
boards without ripping it. The stretching boards make it 
smooth. 

Dorothy. 
Then she does not iron it? 

Japanese. 
No, she just stretches it; and when it is dry it is smooth, and 
she sews it into a kimono again. 

Dorothy. 
If mother had to rip my dresses every time they are washed, 
I guess I would never have another white dress. 

Korean. 
People in my country dress in white nearly all the time. 
The women sit up late at night to do the washing. They 
iron clothes by beating them with round sticks. 

Dorothy. 
Where are you from? 

Korean. 

Korea. I heard you talking about studying the Bible. I 
study the Bible too at a Christian school. 

Mexican. 

Christian schools are not always what you children think 
them to be. 



124 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Dorothy. 
What do you mean? Where is your home? 

Mexican. 

I am from Mexico. For centuries the priests of the Cath- 
olic Church have had schools in Mexico that they called Chris- 
tian schools, but they did not tell us about the living Christ. 
They taught us that Christ is dead and that we should confess 
our sins to a priest. 

Dorothy. 

That is awful! Mexico is my next-door neighbor. Are 
there no real Christian schools, I mean Protestant schools, in 
Mexico? 

Mexican. 

Yes, there are some. I attend one of them. I know about 
Jesus and love him, but there are so many in my country who 
depend upon the priests. 

Brazilian. 

It is the same way where I live. 

Dorothy. 
Where is your home? 

Brazilian. 

In Brazil. It is a lovely country. We have many wealthy 
people in Brazil, but very few know of the living Christ. The 
priests have told untrue things to the people. My country 
needs more Protestant schools. 

French Child. 

Will you let me come and talk with you? I am from 
Europe. We need Protestant schools and our churches re- 
built and our tiny babies cared for. Americans have done so 
much for us; would it be too much to ask them to help still 
more? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 125 

Dorothy. 

We have schools and churches everywhere in America. We 
will be glad to help you. 

Mountaineer. 
I live in America, and there is no church near me. 

Dorothy. 

There are ten churches within three miles of my house. 
Where do you live? 

Mountaineer. 

I live in a mountain cove. About twice a year we walk 
fifteen miles to the nearest church, but the rest of the time 
we just sing the old hymns Granny taught us. 

Dorothy. 

What about the schoolhouse? Why doesn't somebody preach 
in it? 

Mountaineer. 

It is in the nearest schoolhouse that the Church I spoke of 
meets. 

Dorothy. 

Then where do you go to school? You cannot walk thirty 
miles to and from school each day. 

Mountaineer. 

Dad and Jim and Jess are going to start to the Textile In- 
dustrial school this fall. Bill and Henry and Joe will run 
things, and some day we will go. 

Dorothy. 
Is your father going to school? 



126 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Mountaineer. 

Yes; he will be in the same grade with Jim and Jess. Dad 
is fifty-four years old, and he cannot read, but he is going to 
learn. 

Dorothy. 

I thought every grown person in the United States could 
read. 

Immigrant. 

No, miss. Those who come from other lands, as well as 
many born in America, cannot read or write or speak the Eng- 
lish language. 

Dorothy. 
Is anything being done to help these people? 

Immigrant. 

Yes; there are Wesley Houses and Missions and Settlement 
Homes and clubs, but many more are needed. There are 
clinics and milk stations for babies and older children. Did 
you know that thousands of babies die each year because they 
are not cared for as they should be? Do you know that your 
Church is caring for many of them? 

Dorothy. 
I have heard something about it. 

Negro. 
Did you hear about me? 

Dorothy. 
Not very much? Tell me about vourself. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 127 

Negro. 

Before I moved near the Bethlehem House I had an awful 
time finding a place to play, and there were no schools near me; 
but now I go to clubs at the Bethlehem House and go to school 
too. I would tell you more about myself, but I must be going. 

Others. 
It is late. We must go. 

Dorothy. 

do not go. When will you come to see me again? 

Immigrant. 
We can never come back. 

Dorothy. 

But I want to know more about you. I want to help you. 
Can't you write me letters? 

Japanese. 

We cannot write letters, either. Why don't you subscribe 
to the Young Christian Worker? It tells about us. 

Dorothy. 

1 have heard of that magazine. Does it really tell about 
you? 

Chinese. 
Yes, it does. It comes to my school in China every month, 
and I see it. 

Others. 
I see it too. So do I. 

Negro. 
It comes to the Bethlehem House. It tells not only about 
my people in the United States, but it tells about Africa. 
There are a few Christian schools in Africa. 



128 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Dorothy. 
How can I get this magazine? 

Immigrant. 

Send your name and address and fifty cents to the Young 
Christian Worker, Box 510, Nashville, Tenn., and the maga- 
zine will come to you for a whole year. 

Dorothy. 

I am going to subscribe. Good-by, good-by. [All the 
children leave the room, and Dorothy closes her eyes. In a 
few minutes her mother comes in.] 

Mother. 
I am glad she can sleep. She has been so lonely. 

Dorothy. 

Mother, is there a magazine called the Young Christian 
Worker? 

Mother. 

Yes, dear. Why? 

Dorothy. 

Children from all over the world have been here. I asked 
them to come again or to write; and they said that they could 
not, but that the Young Christian Worker is full of stories 
about them. I want to subscribe for myself and Betty and 
Charles. 

Mother. 

I will get you pen and ink and paper now [gets them from 
a table]. Be sure to give the names in full and the street num- 
ber or R. F. D., so that each one will get the magazine. 

— Miss Minerva Hunter. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 129 



THE MA YFLOWER FESTIVAL, OR THE BEA UTIFUL 
SURPRISE. 

A Thanksgiving Entertainment. 

Scene I. 

Scene: Bare room. Spirit of Mayflower wandering there alone. Little Peo- 
ple of the Wood in the background watching and listening. 

Spirit of the Mayflower 

Speaking to herself. 

O how lonely it is here to-day! My birthday, too! The 
years have drifted into hundreds since I first set foot on this 
American shore. Ah, how time flies! I had always wanted 
to see this new world. Many were the stories I had heard of 
it. It was a land of strange people, of beautiful scenes, of 
wonderful opportunities. But, best of all, it was a land of 
no king, a place where a man might go and rule himself. It 
was a land, too, which was the home of the Great Spirit him- 
self, and he who lived there might love and worship him as 
he pleased. It was a wonderful thought that one might wor- 
ship God in his own way. Sweet freedom! "I will seek out 
that land," I said. "I will be free. I will go where I may 
teach all the world the beautiful lesson of freedom." And so, 
with a psalm of joy on my lips and a prayer of hope in my 
heart, I set out. 

Enter Little People of the Wood and stand, listening. They keep them- 
selves well hidden from view of Mayflower. 

Mayflower. 

Continuing. 

But O, that wild voyage over, and those early years here! 
I shudder to think of them again. All that I braved for 
America and the world, to make them free — and — now — they 
have — forgotten — me. It is my birthday, and no one remem- 
bers! Well, well, no use to grieve. 1 will walk on. 

Exit Spirit of Mayflower. Little People of the Wood come hurriedly f orward 
talking together excitedly. 
9 



130 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

First Wood Nymph. 

That was the Spirit of the Mayflower talking. We have 
seen her at last! We have seen her at last! How long we 
have wished to! 

Second Nymph. 

Yes, yes, but did you hear her? She said she was lonely. 

Third Nymph. 

And forgotten! It made my heart ache to hear her say, 
M The world has forgotten me! " and she did so much for it too. 
Can't we do something to show her that she is not forgotten? 
This is her birthday. Why not plan a surprise for her? 

All the Little People. 
A surprise! But what shall it be? 

In pantomime all the Little People grow thoughtful, clasp hands in semi- 
circle, drop to their knees, fold hands, and pray to the Great Spirit of the Woods 
to show chem how to make the Spirit of the Mayflower happy. Suddenly they 
jump up, and with smiles and nods to each other, clasp hands over their mouths 
to hush their "O's!" and begin to embrace each other. They fall to work ar- 
ranging the stage to suggest the season of the Mayflower's first landing. Sud- 
denly they stop in their work, stand off and look at it, shake their heads " No! " 
and race off to bring two old Indians to show them how. They arrange also a 
decorated couch for the Mayflower to rest on when she returns. Now all is 
right. They gaze on their work and become possessed with such a frenzy of 
delight that they execute a quaint dance drill. (See "Directions" for stage 
decoration for this drill.) The Indians stand by and look on, stroking their 
chins. 

When the drill is over, the Indians go away, and the Little People hide when 
they hear the Mayflower coming again. 

Enter the Mayflower in a very dispirited manner, casually glancing about 
her, and brightening at the change which she sees. 

Spirit of the Mayflower. 

Why — why — where am I? Is not this the place where I was 
but a moment ago? How comes it like this now? It looks like 
old times. Am I dreaming? [She puts her hand to her head 
in a dazed way and looks about her.] But no! How can I 
be mistaken? These things are real. [She touches the corn, 
the pumpkin, the apple.] Ah, what memories cluster round 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 131 

them! I can see again the fields of waving corn. And how 
my Pilgrims did love pumpkin pie! Poor little cooks! What 
stacks of yellow pie they had to bake! And I do believe 
here is an arrow stuck in this soft pine. What Indian bow 
shot that, I wonder? And these beautiful autumn leaves, 
already dressed in their yellows and reds. I love the autumn. 
No, I am not dreaming. But what hand put them here? 
[She looks around.] But I see no one. I will rest here on 
this couch. 

She sinks onto a couch, rests her head, and loses herself in thought. The 
Little People of the Wood slip quietly in and stand behind her, gently fanning 
her with bright autumn leaves. Suddenly the Elf, who leads them, adventures 
nearer her, peers into her face, and exclaims at sight of it. 

The Elf. 
Sh! She sleeps. 

Little People. 

Softly. 

It is the time! It is the time! 

The Elf. 
What dreams shall we give her? 

Little People. 
All softly clapping their hands. 
Come, Spirits of the Years, regale her dreams. 
The Spirit of the Past appears. 

Spirit. 
I am the Spirit of the Past. What wouldst thou have? 

Little People. 

The Spirit of the Mayflower is here and lies a-dream. Un- 
scroll for her the years that are no more. 

The Spirit of the Past lays his sickle down with a clang, and at the noise a 
company of Indian warriors glide in, bearing in their hands a beautiful little 



132 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

model ship, masted with tiny flags. This they set on a table prepared for it, 
and then they dance a war dance and stand aside. Hidden voices begin to sing 
"America, the Beautiful," and at the verse, "O, beautiful for Pilgrim feet," 
five Pilgrims appear and stand in line. See " Directions " for Indian dance. 

Spirit of the Past. 
Whence come ye, friends? 

Pilgrims. 

Courtesying. 

From the good ship Mayflower, O Spirit. We are Pilgrims 
but lately landed. 

Spirit. 
O, then will you tell us of your coming? 

First Pilgrim. 

Sad were our hearts in our old home, England. One kind of 
Church only we had, and we could not love its rules. They 
seemed not right and holy to us, and the harsh king who made 
us keep to them we could not abide. How we longed for free- 
dom! We would be pure. We would worship the good God 
as it seemed to us right. And so, in the fair Mayflower, we 
went forth from home and friends. On over the blue Atlantic 
and through her storm-tossed billows, oftentimes near to 
wrecking, we came, even unto the bleak shores of New En- 
gland. A coast desolate and cold it was, with pine trees that 
whispered solemnly in the wind and great rocks that hid them- 
selves in deep shadows. And among the whispering pines and 
deep in the heart of the dark shadows dwelt a tribe of dusky 
red men who were wont to give us trouble what time they were 
not showing us how to plant our crops for food. In such a 
place we built our homes and reared our families — Plymouth, 
we called it, after our dear Plymouth in England. Here, too, 
we met with trials and hardships, sickness, death. Famine 
and Want stalked among us, until one-half our number slept 
in graves by the seashore. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 133 

Second Pilgrim. 

A minister in a black robe and carrying a prayer book. 

But we endured, and the stout hearts of the Pilgrims forgot 
not to thank the good Lord for his mercies. After each trial 
the Pilgrims sang their hymns of praise and spoke their 
prayers to the Almighty God who had led them to a new land. 
And when our town was built, we failed not to remember the 
Lord's day. On that day we wended our ways to the town 
meetinghouse and gave ourselves to his worship. At the beat 
of a drum or the blast of a conch shell or the ring of a bell, upon 
the stroke of nine by the clock, we laid our guns to our shoul- 
ders and marched thither. A flag, symbolizing to us freedom 
and liberty, waved above the church, and a fence of stakes 
about its door and a guard standing near to warn of danger, 
signified protection. So we combined wisdom and worship. 
Now, too, was born the first Thanksgiving Day by law. 

Third Pilgrim. t 

Brother, that is mine to tell. In the springtime of the sec- 
ond year at Plymouth, I, William Bradford, was made Gov- 
ernor. The autumn came. There were bushels of golden 
corn; there were peas and a small share of barley. For 
our bountiful fruits our hearts were filled with praise and 
thanksgiving; and so I, the Governor, made proclamation 
that for our blessings we should hold a time of thanksgiving 
to our Heavenly Father. Forthwith into the forest went four 
good marksmen from among us and brought back an abun- 
dance of ducks and wild turkeys. One hundred of our In- 
dian friends came to make merry with us, bringing with them 
four large deer. This gave us meat in plenty, and such a feast- 
ing there was! And withal a time of "praise and rejoicing." 
Thus was born the first Thanksgiving in America. 

Pilgrim Women. 

Nay, forget us not, good Governor. Were they not our 
hands that baked and brewed and spread the feasts for the 
hungry mouths? We had much merriment behind the scenes, 



134 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

for we thought never to get you filled. Forget not, too, that 
it was our good hearts that were stout to bleed in the cause oj 
of freedom along with ye. 

Pilgrim Men. 
Aye, we forget it not. We forget it not. 

A loud knocking is heard at the door. 

Spirit of the Past. 
Who knocks? Enter friend. 

Spirit of the Present. 

Entering. 

It is I, the Spirit of the Present. My hour has come. I 
can wait no longer. 

The Past. 

And who are these who follow thee? 

The Present. 

Proudly. 
My children. 

She opens the door for them, and they enter one at a time. 

First Child. 
I am come from Japan, the Sunrise Kingdom. 
She bows and stands aside. 

Second Child. 

I am a child of the one-time Hermit Land, Korea, the 
far-away. 

She stands by the first Immigrant, Japan. 

Third Child. 
From the grape-scented vineyards of Italy I come. 
Stands with others. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 135 

Fourth Child. 
A daughter of Abraham am I, from the snowy hills of Russia. 

Fifth Child. 
And I have left my rice fields of China to come hither. 

Sixth Child. 

From the sacred hills of Greece I come. Hard by my home 
Olympus rears his head, where, 'tis said, dwells the great god 
Zeus, who rules the world. 

All stand in a row and repeat together: 

"We are childred from across the sea, 

Little immigrants are we. 
At freedom's call, in truth, we came, 

And now America, as home, we claim." 

Enter quietly a white child, a colored girl, and an Indian maid. They say 
together: 

This is our home also, for were we not born here? And 
now it is yours too, little comers from across the sea. We are 
so glad! Children of one home, now we are little sisters. See? 
How splendid! 

The children raise United States flags and, with colors flying, march in pretty 
circles about the stage, then stand at center front and sing "There are many 
flags in many lands. " (See "Directions. ") 

Past and Present. 
Speaking in concert. 
Spirit of the Future, where art thou? 

Future. 
I come! I come! 

She appears alone, carrying a wreath. 

Past and Present. 
And thy children, where are they? 



136 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Future. 

Here are my children. [She gathers the children of the 
Past and Present about her.] You, O Years, will grant me 
yours. I shall need no others. The Future depends on the 
Past and Present. 

The Spirit of Thanksgiving glides in at the rear and listens. 

The Three Years. 
Catch hands and say together. 
Together we will work; together we will hope. 

Spirit of Thanksgiving. 
Aside, speaking happily. 

The years are one at last! My time is come! Let me go 
forward. [She comes to the front.] Ah, here at last! 
All turn to her. 

The Years. 
Who art thou? 

Thanksgiving. 

The Spirit of Thanksgiving. Now that you love each other 
I am here. I have waited long. Ah, what is this? [She steps 
to the table and lifts to view the little boat the Indians have 
set there.] A boat? Who placed it here? 

The Years. 

Let the Red Men speak. 

An Indian 

Coming forward. 

It is the little Mayflower for the Spirit who has come. [He 
waves to the Spirit who lies asleep.] The Red Men of the 
Wood who once hated her have brought it. Let it speak to 
her of the new hearts that now beat in their bosoms. The 
mind of the Red Man once did not understand. Was it not 
the White Face who robbed him of his wigwam fires, of his 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 137 

lands, of his shining waters, of his forests of dark trees? And 
when the Red Man forgot and was kind and taught the White 
Man the secrets of his yellow corn and how to grow it in the 
fields, did not the White Man give him back for these the 
white fire water that put a tiger in his blood? And in the 
night the tiger sprang, and the White Man shivered in his 
bed to hear the tiger's scream, Then the White Man got his 
gun, and there was war. But now all things are changed. 
Across the dry meadow of the Red Man's heart has flowed the 
River of Love. It is the White Man who has given him his 
schools, the prayer of his papoose in his wigwam, and, best of 
all, the great Book of strange writings, through which the good 
God speaks to the heart of the Red Man. The Great Spirit 
has remembered his Red Child once more, and the hate has 
gone out of his heart. The Redskin and the Paleface dwell 
together now as brothers. And so we bring the little gift. 
It is our love for the Mayflower. 

Thanksgiving. 

Smilingly. 

A beautiful token, Red Man of the Wood. And has no 
one sailed the boat? 

All. 
No one has sailed the boat. 

Little People of the Wood. 
Chanting. 

O, who will sail the new Mayflower, 
The new Mayflower, 
The new Mayflower to-day? 
The Years begin to make excuses for not having sailed the boat. 

The Years. 
In concert. 
It was not seemly that w ; sail the boat. 



138 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

The Past. 

Apologetically. 

I [waves toward Indians] gave the boat. 
Lifts boat to view. 

The Present. 
And I gathered mankind into one home, and so I poured 
the Waters of the Sea of Brotherhood on which to sail it. 

As she speaks she dips hand into the water on which boat will sail that all 
may see it. 

The Future. 
I shall make men love each other in that home, and every- 
where, and so I twined the wreath of fellowship about its 
waters. 

Puts wreath of evergreen about the vessel in which the water is. 

Little People of the Wood. 
Gleefully. 

But they none could sail the boat, 

They none could sail the boat! 

A magic hand it is that sails a magic boat! 

All. 
In concert. 

Let Thanksgiving sail the boat. 

Thanksgiving. 
Then I will sail the boat! [She holds it up again.] O little 
boat, fashioned from the Flowers of Faith, masted with the 
Sails of Hope, and launched by the Hand of Love, on this thy 
Sea of Brotherhood, sail out to all the world and lay thy 
Wreath of Fellowship around the hearts of all its peoples. 
Let there be love and faith and hope and free life for all. So 
shalt thou, little one, carry out thy mission to keep alive the 
Spirit of the Mayflower that gave thee birth. 

All sing "America" as she launches the boat and with last verse form line, 
flags flying, and pass from sight. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 139 

Mayflower. 

Sitting up. 

O, what a pretty dream I have had! The world loves me, 
after all. The Years have kept the faith I gave them. But 
O, it was only a dream! And yet — what is this I see? It is 
the little ship, the token! And it sails! It sails! Then it 
was no dream, but a true vision! 

She kisses the boat and holds it from her that she may see it the better. As 
she does this, the Years, with their children, together with the Little People of 
the Wood, steal in and, arranging themselves in a V-shape at her sides and be- 
hind her, according to height, give a tableau with colored lights. 
Curtain. 

Note. — A simple flag drill would add attractiveness to the play, if used just 
before the last verse of "America" is sung and the children pass from the stage. 
March Brothers, Lebanon, Ohio, can furnish such a drill, or David C. Cook 
Publishing Company, Elgin, 111., gives a very pretty one in his "Washington's 
Birthday Exercise Book" (five cents), if simplified to suit play. 

List of Characters. 
Spirit of the Mayflower. 
The Little People of the Wood (five girls). 
The Woodland Elf (boy). 
Spirit of the Past (boy). 

The Indian Directors of Stage Decoration (two boys). 
Spirit of the Present (girl). 
Spirit of the Future (girl). 
Spirit of Thanksgiving (girl). 
The Indian Heralds of the Past (four boys). 
The Pilgrims (two girls and three boys) . 
The Immigrants (six girls). 
Natives of America (three girls). 

General Directions. 
Costumes. 

Spirit of Mayflower: In soft silvery-gray drapery, empire style, and with 
train, crown, and star of silver, and carrying lighted candle in hand, which she 
sets on table before she goes to sleep in a chair. As mystical a figure as possible. 
Hair powdered white. 

Spirit of Past: An old man in black robe and flowing white hair. Carries 
sickle in his hand. 

Spirit of Present: Dressed as Columbia, in national colors (U. S.) and gold 
crown. Carries large United States flag. 

Spirit of Future: In turquoise blue drapery with silver cord crossed on breast, 
passing to rear and back to front with tassled ends tied in front. Silver crown 



140 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



sprinkled with snow sparkle (which may be made to stick with library paste) . 
Carries in hand silver wand tipped with star, in other hand a large green wreath 
of cedar or evergreen (size of basin on table). A chiffon veil, spangled with sil- 
ver, flies from shoulders as she walks. 

Spirit of Thanksgiving: In white drapery, with crimson trimmings (cord 
bound around breast, hair flying and small crimson cap on top of head, 
gold star in center front of cap and around the lower edge of cap, and from be- 
neath the star a drapery of white chiffon falling (veil). Carries golden wand 
and basket of fruit (red apples) . 

Indian: In khaki and fringe and feathers, usual Indian style. Moccasins for 
feet. Carry bow and arrow and tomahawk. In Indian drill, when warriors 
first appear, they wear striped shawls or blankets, bordered with fringe. 
Skin should be stained brown. Black cheesecloth slit into strings, braided and 
attached to black skull cap will give black hair effect. A head band should be 
worn with this to cover defects. Indian girl wears same colored cloth as boys, 
but her costume is, of course, a short skirt with double fringe around bottom 
and tunic-like middy blouse left loose and open in front. Fringe is at bottom of 
tunic, around armholes, and anywhere else that seems to suggest its appropriate- 
ness. 

Little People of the Wood: In real autumn leaf dresses, with cap of leaves 
pinned together to match, and autumn leaf fans, stockings, and sandals to cor- 
respond. Colors should be deep yellow (orange) and red (dark). Or, if real 
leaves are not available, use crepe paper in these colors. Make underdress of 
the red, having skirt a succession of full frills that will fluff out as child moves. 
Then over this wear jacket of yellow made in shape of large maple or oak leaf, 
the stem of leaf pointing to neck of dress. Cut double, for front and back. 
Fasten on shoulders and slip over head to get on. Tie together loosely under 
arms where the leaf points occur, leaving loose around bottom of jacket. Let 
jacket reach below waist, midway the first red frill of skirt. There should be 
no sleeves. Yellow stockings, red shoes. Head band of small red and yellow 
leaves (paper) on head for cap. Carry red or yellow paper leaf fan. Lay fans 
down when drill occurs. Cover the Spirit of Mayflower with fans after she 
sleeps. Let Elf wear tights of red drawn high under his arms, red belt, red sus- 
penders, crossed in back, yellow shirt (with long sleeves), red skullcap. His 
tights, of course, reach to his ankles. Shoes of cloth with pointed toes, cov- 
ered with yellow crepe paper or made of real yellow cloth, should cover his feet. 
Ladies' red silk stockings (large size and long) may do for tights if very small 
boy is playing part. In drill, where Elf impersonates the Wind, he should run 
out and cover himself with costume suggested in "Directions for Drill." 

Pilgrims: Boys — Large dark hats, straight jackets, white collars and cuffs 
(big collars), knee trousers, and low shoes. Let one wear cape. Carry old- 
fashioned guns. 

Girls — Bronze-brown cambric gowns, tight-fitting waists, long, full skirts, 
white Puritan muslin caps, wide white cuffs, white neckerchief. Carry Bibles. 

Immigrants: (1) Japan — Bright-flowered kimono, large sleeves, and wide 
sash tied in back with large bow. Hair, high, loose knot, with fancy hairpins 
(representing fans, etc.). Japanese parasol. Very red lips. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 141 



(2) Korea — Baggy trousers (full), made of white, and extending to ankles. 
Outer skirt (blue, pink, or yellow), with no seam in back, goes on over trousers 
like a big apron. This is tied on with strings of same material, which lap over 
in back and tie in front. Low-necked jacket (same material as outer skirt, 
with elbow sleeves, and tied in front with two sets of tape strings of same 
material. Girls dress. 

(3) China: Blue cotton cloth; long trousers; short coat coming just below the 
hips and fastening with loops of tape onto knotted tape buttons on right side and 
up to throat. Sleeves straight and knot into tight cuff at wrists. 

(4) Russia — Thick winter dress of dark material; a dark, heavy coat, high- 
necked, with fluffy white fur (real fur or canton flannel with furry side up, or 
cotton with seeds out) around collar, cuffs, and front and hem of coat. Coat 
buttons slightly to left side in front and is long, about three inches from bottom 
of dress. Black shoes and stockings. Dark fur cap, round in shape, and fit- 
ting far down on head. If preferable, use lighter costume: wide, full skirt of 
dark material, very long; light-colored waist, extending below waste line in 
flounce; gay apron in front (not all round hips), and almost to bottom of skirt, 
with wide and narrow bands across bottom. Let bands be of contrasting ma- 
terial. Three-cornered shawl or veil so tied over head that ends fall on shoul- 
ders. Color, black or dark. 

(5) Italy — White oblong piece covering head and shoulders in back. White 
guimpe with puff sleeves to elbow where long cuff begins and reaches to wrist. 
Cuff is same material as dress — brown. A brown dress without sleeves now 
goes on. It is a rich bronze-brown bordering on yellow. Skirt is full and down 
to ankles. Small, long apron in front of deeper brown, with bands of light em- 
broidery across bottom. Brown corselet, like apron and cuffs, around waist. 
Tan shoes. 

(6) Natives — Modern American white child in usual costume, preferably 
white; American Negro child in usual dress. Indian maid in khaki and fringe. 
Indian headdress, or hair in two plaits in front and bright bandeau around head. 

(7) Greek — Persian yellow stocking cap with long tassel. Wide sash of same 
color tied in loose knot without bow at left front. Pale yellow or cream skirt 
scarcely coming to knees and very full and flaring. Plain waist of same. Green 
Eton jacket with standing collar, military style, long sleeves of usual 
width, without cuff. Front and cuffs of jacket embroiddered in lighter shades. 
Black hose. Orange red shoes (same as sash and cap), long and pointed, with 
points turned up. 

Note. — All the characters given are for girls, except the Indian warriors, the 
Spirit of the Past, the first three Pilgrims who speak, and the two Indians who 
help decorate, and, of course, the Elf. Choose children for the parts who can 
wear the colors suggested. 

Stage Arrangement. 

Scene 1. — Stage bare except for couch to one side and a table. If desirable, 
wreaths from Scene 2 may be suspended before this scene opens. 
Scene 2. — (After little people have decorated.) 
Couch at center back and covered with leaf-green crepe paper tacked on. 



142 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



(Put couch to one side of stage, if better for drills.) Bank back of stage with 
pine boughs and autumn foliage, with here and there a cornstalk with dry ear 
of corn on it. Set couch out from wall a bit. At one end of it place a pumpkin 
with an apple (very red) on its summit; at other end set table which is covered 
with green crepe paper, like couch. On the table place a small tin foot basin 
of water. Previously have basin draped with same green paper the couch and 
table wear. Red apples might be placed just in front of green basin. The basin 
is for the little boat to sail in. White paper might do well to drape it with, 
since there is to be put around it a green wreath from the hand of the Spirit of 
the Future. Make this wreath large enough to fit basin, or it might be open on 
one side and tied together so that it may be easily placed around basin and tied 
again. 

Just above the couch hang by wire two wreaths of green of different sizes, the 
smaller above the larger, and both laid horizontally or with flat sides parallel to 
floor. Colored streamers of yellow and red run from upper wreath to which 
they are attached through the under and larger wreath and out to corners of 
stage in festoons that droop lowest immediately over the couch. One or two may 
fall to floor at each end of couch. Wreaths at the sides of stage may receive 
ends of festoons and hold them in place. These wreaths may all be hung pre- 
vious to the first entrance of the Spirit of the Mayflower, but do not insert the 
festoons until the Little People and the Indians decorate. Do not have the 
couch and table in place at first, either. Let the basin be hidden until the Lit- 
tle People bring it out and place it Let the little decorators, too, place conspicu- 
ously in view an old-fashioned gun that is broken, or at least that is not capable 
of shooting. An Indian arrow also may be sticking prominently from wood- 
work. If the hardest of this decorating is done before the play begins, the cur- 
tain need not drop for the decorating. It would prove interesting for the audi- 
ence to see the Little People and the Indians doing it. The Indians will do the 
heaviest and highest of it. The festoons may pass under and over the first 
wreath to which they are attached and their ends pinned down. This will not 
be hard to do. Otherwise a decorating committee should be formed to help 
and the curtain dropped just when the Little People have brought in the In- 
dians, and raised again as quickly as possible, showing them all again ready for 
the leaf drill, which the happy Little People give when the work is done. If a 
committee helps, and the curtain has to go down, a patriotic march should be 
played while the stage is being arranged. 

Tableau lights for tableau at end, tinsel, snow sparkle, and any other acces- 
sories needed may be ordered and quickly received from March Brothers, Leba- 
non, Ohio. 

Drills. 

1. Leaf Drill for Little People of the Wood. 

Music throughout must be suitable for small children, four-four time, and 
not too fast, except where they are swirling. 

1. March to left, single file thus: From center front to left, down left side, 
across rear of stage, up right side across front, where they stand in line, 
all marking time till the end of line is in row at front. Halt. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 143 



2. Hands on each other's shoulders. Line backward march to rear of stage; 
forward to front. Halt. 

3. Drop hands. Raise arms up and down, moving fingers quickly to repre- 
sent fluttering leaves. 

4. Bend down and tap with fingers on floor to represent raindrops pattering. 
Position. 

5. Sway as tree trunks in wind — left, right — raising arms the while to repre- 
sent limbs of trees. Let Elf run out in front of line and represent wind. Runs 
to left, then to right, trees swaying in direction he goes. 

6. Leaves flutter down. Children turn around and around and fall to ground. 

7. Wind catches each one singly and whirls it around and to ground. 

8. Then all catch hands, the wind catching that of the foremost and pulling 
line up after him. He leads them into a spiral march on each side of stage in 
succession. (Be careful with this spiral that the spaces between the marching 
lines, as they go in and out, may not be so narrow as to cause confusion from 
contact.) 

9. Form circle, now, wind in center, but do not hold hands. Let each child 
turn herself round and round as if carried in air by wind, as whole circle moves 
bodily, thus turning, to corner of stage, where they fall in heap, as a drift of 
leaves in woods. Wind runs out door. Leaves remain here until Spirit of May- 
flower comes and lies on couch. Then get up and fan her to sleep. Elf goes 
out to take off costume as Wind. Reappears and joins others at couch. 

Note 1. — Draw figures that are intricate on floor with chalk, so that children 
may follow them without blunder. 

Note 2. — For this drill use as many Little People of the Wood as will make 
the figures effective. If six, the number designated, seems too scant, others 
may join them just for the drill and then go away. 

Note 3. — At the beginning of the drill the Elf may run out and put on a robe 
made of a succession of slit crepe paper frills (on cloth foundation). These 
slits will blow out as he moves and make him look "blustery" like the wind. 
Don't have short frills. 

2. Indian Drill. 

Music slow and measured, though it increases in swiftness as each new move- 
ment is made by the chief who leads. 

1. Indians steal in one by one quietly and not too close together as to time of 
appearance. 

2. Leading chief strikes pitch of chant (if used) and leads march in circle, 
throwing heels high. (Single file. Make circuit twice.) Halt. 

3. Same as before, only quicker movement and music. Halt. 

4. Leader gives loud grunt, chants louder, and marches, knees high at each 
step. Halt. 

5. Hands to eyes to see who comes. 

6. Ears to ground to hear who comes. 

7. With louder grunt and chant, the others imitating, leader marches in 
quicker time. Second round catches foot in hand and hops, chanting weirdly. 
Halt, foot down. 



144 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



8. (Higher pitch, quicker time.) March, throw blankets to ground (out of 
way), raise head, beat breast, and lift knees high. Halt. 

9. Lift bow and arrow to shooting position. 

10. Flourish tomahawk. 

11. Catch foot and hop again in circle, then to side of stage, where, in unison, 
they all exclaim ' Ugh ! ' ' and burst out laughing. 

They now watch proceedings. 

Note. — The chant in connection with the steps is much more effective than 
without it, but the drill may be given without that. Should Indian music be 
desired, order "Hiawatha Dramatized," March Brothers, Lebanon, Ohio, at 
twenty- five cents a copy. Music without chant will be found in that little 
booklet on page 44; with chant, on page 40. 

The blankets should be large, striped, .with fringe as border, and are worn 
around shoulders. Let Indians throw them to side of stage to which they are 
going when drill is over, so that they will not have to pick them up as they 
hop away at last. Throwing them a distance will add frenzy to the act, any- 
way. They might even grunt as they do it. 

The Indian costume is so well known that it scarcely needs a description. It 
may be bought at any department store. Use headdress of feathers and In- 
dian make-up for face. 

The Mayflower Model Ship. 




Dimensions, 6x7 K inches. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 145 



Materials. 

1. Construction paper (white) such as is used in manual training arts. Any 
thick, hard-finished surface paper will do. 

2. Two three-inch United States flags. 

3. Tube of library paste, ten-cent size. 

MODEL MAYFLOWER SHIP. 

4. Small piece of soft white pine, the length of boat. A piece of ordinary 
school chalk box will do. 

5. Five thumb tacks. 

6. Pair of small scissors. 

Directions for Making. 

1. Draw ship before cutting. Outline first the bottom (the boat part). To 
do this fold paper at g; draw d, the curve at each end, and the dotted line e. 
Fold on dotted line, and paste the flaps d down, the one on the other. (The pa- 
per being doubled, there will be a flap on each side of the end of the boat; conse- 
quently, two flaps to each end. These are the ones to paste on each other.) 
Make height of boat, J, one inch; the length of boat, L, from dotted line to dot- 
ted line, seven and a half inches. Curve top as given. 

2. The Sails. — Draw in shape given and cut out. Let h, the direct length 
from top-tip to side-tip be five inches on a side. Draw flaps to bottom of each 
of two sails at/. When sails are cut, paste /to boat, to sail to each side of boat, 
as shown. Paste tips together at top, a, leaving other tips of sails tree. Paste 
or pin at h to hold in place flags, the poles of which have been inserted between 
sails on each side. Make height of sales k, five inches. 

3. The Decorations. — Buy two small flags and place as shown. If desirable, 
cover sides of boat with small flowers (white or blue forget-me-nots torn apart, 
so as to look like a fairy flower boat) . Or a wreath around the upper rim of boat 
might do. Flatten boat at base, g, and from inside tack, thus flattened, to 
piece of pine. Use the thumb tacks for this. The pine will protect the base 
of boat from water and hold base flat so that it will sit squarely on water. If 
necessary, insert stiff paper between sides of boat to keep them open, or if boat 
appears too light in weight, insert weight into its bottom. 

— Alleine Fridy. 



LOVE GIFTS A T SMITHSVILLE. 

A Christmas dialogue for Intermediate boy and two girls. 
Enter Santa, in his furs. He falls through the open doorway onto the stage 
and scrambles up hurriedly. 

Santa. 

Gee whiz! Wasn't that a tumble, though? [He looks 
around.] My, but I'm glad that Mrs. Santa isn't here yet 
10 



146 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

to hear me say that! "Hush, sir," she would say; "such 
speech doesn't become one of your dignity," and if I were go- 
ing to get any peace out of life, I'd have to hush. You know 
how women are. But she's not here now, and I'll say it as 
much as I want to. Gee whiz! Gee whiz! Gee whiz! 
Gee-mi-net-ty-y-y! [He jumps up and cracks his heels to- 
gether as an accompaniment.] You would say it, too, boys 
and girls, if you knew what had just happened. How would 
you like to have on your winged boots and cap that made you 
invisible and be flying around like me to-day, seeing who was 
ready for you and chimney time, when, bump! there you are 
against a stone turret in the air; and before you know your- 
self, whif-f-f ! you go zizzing down to earth and bounce through 
this doorway? How would you like that, I say? Hey? 
Well, that is what has just happened to me and Mrs. Santa 
Claus. For she was with me — up yonder in the air — right 
over that mill there. I tumbled in here, but she hit the 
ground a bit more gracefully and rested just in front of the 
mill. Why, she's on her feet now — look!— and does not seem 
a bit hurt. I'll bet you a quarter she'll get up a conversation 
with that little girl there. It would be just like her to do it. 
She is talking to her. See? And she is bringing her in here. 
Gee! I must hide. She'll be tongue-lashing me for not hit- 
ting on my feet after that fall, as she did. [Peeps out again.] 
Well, I'll be jiggered! Look at that costume she's got on 
now. If she hasn't changed her looks so that that little girl 
won't know she is Mrs. Santa Claus and blab on her ahead of 
time! [He stands peering and holding his sides and laugh- 
ing until he hears footfalls, and then he hides.] 

Enter Mrs. Santa dressed as old woman and wearing a bonnet of dark ma- 
terial. At her side appears a little girl from the mill district. 

Mrs. Santa. 
Dearie, can you tell me what mill this is? 

Girl. 
Why, it's Smithsville. Be you a newcomer? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 147 

Mrs. Santa. 

Yes; and I don't know much about the place. Do you live 
live here? 

Girl. 

Points to house on hillside. 
Yep; yonner. 

Mrs. Santa. 

Excitedly. 

There! Why, I see rows and rows of them, and all alike, 
inside and out, even to the garbage can on the back steps. 
There's not even a mite of a shade tree to make one front 
yard look different from another. Why, my dear, how do 
you know your house from all the others? How do you know 
when you get home? 

Girl. 

Humph! That's easy. A body's house sets to 'em like 
clothes. They'd know it anywheres, 

Mrs. Santa. 
How many of you live there? 

Girl. 
Six, 'sides pa and ma. 

Mrs. Santa. 

Six! In that small house? 

Girl. 

They ain't but three rooms, and one of them is a kitchen. 
But we piles up to sleep. There's plenty of room, only sis, 
she's got consumption in bed. She cotched it in the mill. 
Lint and dus' flies so in there, and the boss don't 'low no win- 
ders h'isted on account the looms won't run right then. You 
can ketch anything there, 'cause everybody has to cough; 
besides, they all comes right out in the cold, all het up as they 
wus in the mill, to go home nights and so gits colds. 



148 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Mrs. Santa. 
Do you work in the mill, too? 

Girl. 
Nope. I ain't old enough. Wisht I wus. 

Mrs. Santa. 
Do you go to school? 

Girl. 

Who, me? Not on your life! Leastways, I ain't been but 
this year for a while when the law made us go. But I stopped 
quick as I could. You don' need no learnin' to work in a mill. 
You alius gits along. Naw, sir, not me! 

Mrs. Santa. 
Why isn't the mill running now? 

Girl. 
Christmas. Didn' you know that? 

Mrs. Santa. 
Do you have good times then? 

Girl. 
Bet yo' bones we do. 

Mrs. Santa. 
What do you do? 

Girl. 

The big uns dances and treats at the sody fountains and 
goes to picture shows and vaudevilles. Us little ones slips 
in behind 'em when we can. Yonner come some now. Listen 
at 'em laugh; and I do b'lieve every hide-and-tallow of 'ems 
got chewin' gum. Ef they ain't, though! But them's I've 
been talking about is gals' stunts. The men does more. 
They kin set roundst the grocery store and autymobile shops 
and crack jokes with the car drivers, and for Christmas Day 
they gits tanked up wid tea and paints de town red — that is, 
when they kin git it; but the government won't sell it to 'em 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 149 

now. But, anyways, lot's of 'em sets under that bridge over 
yonner and plays cyards and makes heaps of money. 

Mrs. Santa. 
And what is that small boy doing here? 

Girl. 
Who, Jake Dobbs? Nothin' but suckin' the stump of a 
cigarette somebody's throwed down. All the boys hunts 'em. 
They ain' no man a tall, lessen they smokes and chews and 
cusses. 

Mrs. Santa. 

And do you all like to do these things? 

Girl. 
Cose. That's what anybody works for, to git money to do 
'em. Wisht I's big enough now. 

Mrs. Santa. 
And do you know what holiday this is? 

Girl. 

Sho'. It's Christmas. But that don' cut no ice with us. 
Holidays is holidays. One's good as another. Name ain' 
nothin'. [Gets up to go.] But I hafter go. Ma's a-callin' 
me. 

Mrs. Santa. 

Well, good-by, dearie, if you must go. Much obliged. 
[Mrs. Santa, seated in rocking-chair, remains a few minutes 
longer, rocking and moaning, handkerchief to her eyes.] 
O, dreadful! dreadful! There is no way to change them. 
They're so satisfied. Whatever, whatever shall we do? 

Santa slips out from his hiding place, stands looking sorrowfully at her for a 
moment as she cries; then his face lights up and, he glides out. 

Scene II. 

Next morning Santa comes in, looks around for Mrs. Santa. 

Santa. 
What, has she not come back yet? I bet you would like 



150 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



to know what a good time I had last night and this morning. 
You would, eh? Well, you see, I can't stand to see Mrs. 
Santa cry; and when I saw her sitting there in that chair last 
night rocking and crying over that little ignorant girl it made 
my heart ache, until suddenly I had a thought and went out 
to act on it. I put on my things and went down to the 
soda fountain and stood there a long time with a big card 
tacked on me with these words on it; "Children! Children! 
Nails at the Wesley House. Bring your stockings and hang 
them up. See what happens. Santa Claus. " At first they 
wouldn't believe me. The children would come in crowds to 
peep at me through the doors and windows to see if I were 
there and had said that. I had the fun of my life watching 
the little street toughs perched on one foot each and peering 
at me from behind the doorknobs. Gradually they slunk in 
and pinched and thumped and knocked me and then shot on 
home with the news. It was then that Mrs. Santa found me. 
As I stepped into the dark to go home and invite her to go 
with me to hang the stockings, she nabbed my arm: "What 
are you up to now? What are you doing here at this soda 
fountain? A person of your dignity" — "O, dignity rot!" 
I exclamied. "Can't you let a fellow alone? I was going to 
surprise you. Didn't I see you up yonder crying because you 
couldn't make these old folks here appreciate Christmas and 
understand what really good times are? 'Let the old folks 
be,' I said to myself. ' Nobody can do anything with them, 
but the children are the ones. Teach them what you want 
them to know.' And so I came down here to start things with 
them. It was all for you, and here you are fussing at me be- 
cause I didn't stay at home." And I told her all my plans. 
By that time we were at the Wesley House, and so were the 
stockings, rows and rows of them. You never saw the like, 
and such funny colors too — all the way from pea green to 
turkey red! Mrs. Santa and I nearly split our sides filling 
them. By and by we were through and were resting, when, 
tramp ! tramp ! came the noise of hurrying feet. " My, my ! " I 
exclaimed. "They are coming to get them, and light is 
hardly broken in the sky. Step behind that cutrain, my dear. 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMETNS 151 

Hurry, or they will see you." And we hid quickly. You 
never saw such running and jumping and scrambling as we 
had then. It was a long time before Miss Page, who was 
"boss" of the place, could quiet them, and then she told the 
sweet old story of the shepherds, the star in the East, the heav- 
enly host, and the little Lord Jesus. I wish you could have 
heard the way she told it. Not a sound was heard, for many 
of them had never been told things like that before. After 
the story they sang carols. " Dearies," said Miss Page, "let's 
slip out and sing softly these carols from door to door to our 
fathers and mothers." And so they marched from house to 
to house singing "Hosanna!" and chanting "Merry Christ- 
mas." I can hear them yet. Listen! [Puts hand to ear and 
bends forward to catch the sound. Soft, low voices at one 
doorway of the stage sing the first stanza of "Silent Night," 
then voices from the other doorway catch up the strain and 
and sing second stanza to imitate far-away singing.] Wasn't 
that beautiful? Finally they got back to the house, and when 
we had distributed the stockings and were breaking ranks Mrs. 
Santa exclaimed:" Why, where is Jakie Dodds? Why isn't 
he here?" "O, he's been tuk up fer cussin'," a small voice at 
her elbow piped. "An' he's in the lock-up now." "Curs- 
ing? In the lock-up? On Christmas morning! Why, he 
he must not be left out to-day. We must go down and do 
something for him," said Mrs. Santa. "It ain't no use," 
said the same little tones. "He wouldn't let yer. He don' 
b'leeve in yer. He says they ain't no sure-'nuff Santy. 
Tain't nothin' but a person, fer he's seen him." "A person! 
Such a mistake! Poor Jakie!" Mrs. Santa exclaimed. "He 
can't be happy that way. We'll have to teach him better." 
And she was off. That was when I lost her, and of course I 
expected to find her here waiting for me. Where can she be? 
Hark! Isn't that somebody coming? [Goes to door.] Sh! 
It's Mrs. Santa. I'm going to pretend I'm angry that she 
wasn't here long ago. 

Enter Mrs. Santa dreamily and sits down. 

Santa. 
Where have you been to be straggling in at this hour? 



152 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Don't you know there's nothing to eat in the house? We've 
carried everything, everything out of this house to other 
folks. Now what are we going to do ourselves? Answer me 
that. What are we going to do? Can't you talk? Just sit 
there then and let me starve" — 

Mrs. Santa. 

0, Santa, if you had just been with me to see what I've been 
seeing! 

Santa. 

Aside. 

Just listen to that now. You can't faze her. She doesn't 
know I've been quarreling. Bless her heart! I'll quit pre- 
tending. [He turns to Mrs. Santa.] Hey, what's that? 
What is it you have been seeing? Where have you been? I 
lost you. 

Mrs. Santa. 

Smiles. 

I have been to the guardhouse. 

Santa. 

To the guardhouse? You! Who took you there I'd like 
to know? 

Mrs. Santa. 

Nobody. I took myself there. I went to see poor Jakie 
Dodds. You remember the poor child who was taken up for 
cursing and wasn't going to have any Christmas and who 
didn't believe there was a Santa Claus? I've been to see him. 
When you lost me, that's where I was, inside that jail, sitting 
flat on the floor with Jakie's head in my lap, and my hand was 
pushing back his stiff little locks from his forehead. But 
Jakie didn't know it; he was sound asleep. All at once he 
opened his eyes and saw, not me, but a room full of the most 
wonderful brightness — he told me about it — and out of it 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 153 

drifted a dazzling white throne, all starry and twinkling, and 
the light about it all softened and dissolved into tender angels' 
faces. The air was flooded with bursts of angel music such as 
Jakie had never dreamed of before. Then there came another 
ripple of music, and Jakie saw the most beautiful angel of them 
all step out and take from the foot of the throne a tiny bundle 
of light and fly away down, down to the earth and there lay it 
in the arms of a lovely woman with beautiful hair, who lay 
sleeping in a stable because there was no room elsewhere. 
The angel whispered gently to her: "Mary, the Christ Child, 
the little Lord Jesus, a gift of joy and light for Jakie Dodds and 
the world!" And then he flew back again through the melo- 
dies that were floating still down. And lo, the Voice spoke 
again. "Who took my precious gift to earth?" it asked. 
Into all the faces there a new light shone as they bowed and 
sang, "Love, love took the gift." "And do they all receive 
it?" asked the Voice again. "How shall we teach the chil- 
dren to revere and honor it? " And once more the angels wor- 
shiped and said: "Love will find a way." 

Santa. 
And did Jakie understand? 

Mrs. Santa. 

O, he did, and that's the sweet part of it all. He saw his 
mistake and has gone to tell all Smithsville. He felt that, 
although he had been in the lock-up, he had had the most 
beautiful time of anybody. He came to understand that in 
keeping and living with the gift love had brought, which gift is 
the Christ, he and all Smithsville might have a truly good 
time on Christmas Day and all the days. Wasn't that worth 
going to the guardhouse to see — that Jakie should learn this 
lesson? 

Mrs. Santa goes out. 

Santa. 

She is so happy over that, now, that she has gone in yonder 
to cry, I'll bet you a brass monkey. Crying because she's 



154 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

glad! Women are strange things! But I'm sort of tickled, 
too. Halle-lu-jah! 

He shouts this and runs off the stage. 

WH Y DID N'T YOU TELL? 

An Easter entertainment for children from five to ten years of age. 

Characters. 

Nature's children (small primary children): Two violets, two crocuses, two 
robins (or bluebirds) , two bunnies, four lily spirits. 

Foreign children in our land (older Primary or young Junior children) : A lit- 
tle Syrian girl, a Chinese boy, an Eskimo (boy or girl) , a little Japanese girl. 

Christian boys and girls (ten or more of the older Primary or first-year Junior 
boys and girls) . 

Costumes. 

The Robins: Brown stockings; brown, tight-fitting knickerbockers of cambric; 
a red vest, whole in front; a capelike coat of brown cambric cut with a long 
broad tail, the cape extending over the shoulders in the form of wings. This 
coat should be lined with stiffening or wired to keep the shape of the pointed 
wings and tail. The hands may slip through bands on the inside of the wings, 
thus holding the coat on and confining the wings to the arms. On the head is 
a darker brown headpiece, like a boy's rubber rain hat, coming down to the 
shoulders. The front has a little peak reaching down to the nose, covered with 
yellow paper to simulate the bill, eyes of yellow disks with black centers are 
pasted on the sides of the cap. No shoes need be worn. 

The Bunnies: A child's one-piece pajama suit made with feet and buttoning 
behind will answer. A little upstanding tail of raw cotton is sewed on at the 
back. On the head is a tight-fitting cap of white Canton, joined to the neck of 
the pajama suit, on which are long, upright ears of white, lined with pink cam- 
bric and wired into shape. On the sides of the cap are pasted disks of pale 
blue, oval in shape, with large, black centers. More natural-looking bunnies 
may be suggested by dyeing an old white pajama suit brown or making a brown 
Canton pajama suit with feet and head and ears to match. The tail in this case 
would also be white cotton. 

The Violets: Little full dresses of dark purple cheesecloth, very short- waisted, 
vandyked around the bottom and unhemmed. Three stiff petals of violet- 
colored cambric are fastened around the very short waist in front, while two 
similar petals stand upright from the shoulders behind, like wings turned flat 
to the front. These petals will, of course, need to be wired. On the head is 
worn a little pointed hood of deep yellow cambric, flaring back from the face 
with an orange-colored facing to represent the heart of a violet. There are no 
sleeves or only cap puffs. Cheap white stockings may be died to match. No 
shoes are necessary. Instead of this costume the violets may be dressed simply 
in little full short- waisted cheesecloth dresses of violet color, the skirt caught 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 155 



up with artificial violets, and violets in the hair. The stockings should match 
the dress. 

The Crocuses: These children wear a chalicelike green cap, a tight- fitting, very 
short waist, and tiny cap sleeves of green cambric, and a skirt of yellow cambric 
in petal form; yellow stockings to match. Or the Crocus children may be 
dressed simply in little full dresses of yellow cheesecloth, festooned with paper 
crocuses; yellow crocuses in the hair, and yellow stockings (cheap white ones 
dyed). 

The Lily Spirits: Long white dresses of cheesecloth, short- waisted, Kate 
Greenaway style; little cap sleeves, puffed. They wear narrow gold bands 
across the forehead and about the head; white stockings and slippers, or simply 
white stockings. They should be fair-haired, if possible, and good singers. 
Each carries a long-stemmed Easter illy. 

Syrian Girl: A kimono-like tunic of brown cambric reaching to the floor, 
but with no fullness on the shoulders; around the waist a brown girdle of gay 
striped material, the stripes running crosswise; over the head a fancy scarf of 
yellow tones, one end tossed over the left shoulder; brown stockings. The hair 
is parted and hangs. 

For the costumes of the Chinese boy, the Eskimo, and the Japanese, see 
missionary magazine. The Chinese boy should be in medium blue. 

The Arab boy: A long tunic of black cambric like a boy's bath robe, only 
without fulness. A white underwaist, white baggy trousers, bloused at 
ankle, a broad stripe of yellow or a gay stripe; red fez; barefooted. 

Scene. 

Any ordinary platform will do. There should be Easter decorations of flow- 
ers, palms, and ferns in the background, at irregular intervals, so that the char- 
acters — flowers, birds, and animals — may step back among them and form part 
of the platform setting. 

Action. 

Music: "All things bright and beautiful." 

Enter, skipping rope slowly in time to the music, a violet, a crocus, a lily, a 
robin, a lily, a bunny, a second bunny, a lily, a robin, a lily, a crocus, and, last, 
a second violet. As they skip, the violets and crocuses scatter paper flower 
petals to match their costumes in color, while the lilies wave their flowers in 
time to the music. 

They circle the platform once, and then stop in a semicircle, while they sing 
the first stanza of the Beginners' and Primary children's songs: "All things 
bright and beautiful." 



Each little flower that opens, 
Each little bird that sings, 

God made their glowing colors, 
He made their tiny wings. 



156 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Yes, all things bright and beautiful, 

All creatures great and small, 
And all things wise and wonderful 

The Lord God made them all. 

While they are singing, the little Syrian girl, the Chinese boy, the Eskimo, 
the Arab boy, and the Japanese girl come tiptoeing on the platform in single file 
from the opposite side and stand in a diagonal line near the front of the plat- 
form. They should be far enough apart to allow them to turn and face one an- 
other without crowding. They peep over each other's shoulders and listen in- 
tently to the nature song. 

First Violet. 

When the winter came, with its freezing cold, 
Our little leaves withered and sank in the earth, 

Then you thought there was nothing but frozen mold; 
You never dreamed of a glad new birth! 

Second Violet. 

But God has sent back the warmth to the world, 
And lo, pushing up through the softened sod, 

The little green blades with new leaves are curled; 
While everywhere, everywhere violets nod. 

Both Violets. 
And they whisper and whisper with perfumed breath — 

First Violet. 
There is life after death! 

Second Violet. 
There is life after deathj 

Syrian Girl. 
To Chinese boy. 
Do you understand what the violets say? 

Chinese Boy. 

Shaking his head and turning to the Eskimo. 
Do you? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 157 

Eskimo. 
Shaking his head and turning to the Arab boy. 



Do you? 
Do you? 
I don't! 



Arab Boy. 
To Japanese girl. 

Japanese Girl. 
Shaking her head sadly 

First Crocus. 



Crocuses golden and lavender, too, 
Look up from the earth to the sky of blue. 
They are thanking the Father for his care 
In waking again the world so fair. 

Second Crocus. 

And the wind hears their message as he passes 
And waves above them the young green grasses. 
They'll whisper it now if you'll come quite near 
And bend above them a listening ear: 

First Crocus. 
Death is a sleep from which all shall wake. 

Second Crocus. 
The Father has promised — for Jesus' sake! 

Syrian Girl. 
Won't some one speak clearer? We don't understand. 

The four Lily Spirits step out from the semicircle and form a group near the 
front of the platform, facing the foreign children to whom they sing directly the 
stanzas of "Awake! Awake!"* 



*From "Primary and Junior Songs for the Sunday School, " by Marie Hofer 
and Josephine L. Baldwin. Clayton F. Summy Company, 64 East Van Buren 
Street, Chicago. 



158 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

The Lily Spirits. 

Awake, awake! the lilies say, 
Awake, awake! 'tis Easter day! 

Awake, awake! 
The secret we will now unfold, 
Deep hidden in our hearts of gold, 
We sing of life alway. 

Awake, awake, O children, wake! 
And of our Easter joy partake! 

Awake, awake! 
Awake and tell the story, 
How Jesus rose in glory 

To give you life alway. 
The Lilies slip back into the semicircle. 

Arab Boy. 

To others. 

'Tis something sweet which the lilies say — 

Some message of hope and security. 
They repeat it each year in their gentle way — 
This secret hid deep in their purity. 

Eskimo. 
I wish I knew! 

Japanese Girl. 
And I do, too. 

First Robin. 

The robins are singing on fence post and bough; 
Of building new nests they are thinking right now! 

Second Robin. 

And they say in their hearts as they twitter and sing, 
The very same words which the Easter bells ring: 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 159 

Both Robins. 
"End now the silence of death and doubt; 
Let the glad song of life through the whole world ring out!" 

Eskimo. 
If only the birds sang in human speech! 

Japanese Girl. 
Their message then our souls might reach! 

All the foreign children look at her and nod. 

First Bunny. 
The creatures small in wood and dell 

Creep forth again from the winter's shade, 
And dumbly strive God's praise to tell 

To the whole wide world his love has made. 

Both Bunnies. 
Life has triumphed over death; 
Let all proclaim it that have breath. 

All of Nature's children now quietly step backward and settle themselves 
among the palms, ferns, and flowers at the back of the platform. 

Syrian Girl. 
That animals are wise 'tis true. 
Their message how I wish I knew! 

Chinese Boy. 
Perhaps if we study till we're old, 
Nature's secrets will then unfold. 

Arab Boy. 
I want to know now! 

Eskimo. 
So do I! 

Japanese Girl. 
So do I! 



160 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 

Syrian Girl. 
Hark! Is that a clearer message? 

The Christian children sing, before entrance, the first stanza of " Easter Bells," 
from "Primary and Junior Songs. " 

Christian Children. 

Hark, the bells of Easter morning, 
Ringing out their message clear; 

"Christ is risen, Christ is risen," 
Sound their message far and near. 

While the interlude is being played, the ten or a dozen older pupils march on 
the platform, forming a semicircle in the center where the Children of Nature 
stood before. 

Christian Children. 

Listen, children, to their story, 

Joyfully they seem to say: 
" Christ the Saviour rose in glory 

On this holy Easter Day." 

Syrian Girl. 

Eagerly. 
Tell us plainly what the bells ring! 

Chinese Boy. 
Pressing forward. 
What say the robins on joyful wing? 

Eskimo. 
Stepping forward. 

What is the message of the flowers of spring? 

Arab Boy. 
What is it all creatures say? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 161 

Japanese Girl. 

What is the meaning of Easter Day? 

Are you sure that you know? Can you truly say? 

First Child. 

"God is love." "God so loved the world that he gave his 
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should 
not perish, but have eternal life. " 

Second Child. 

And when God sent his Son, a little baby, to this earth, the 
angels said to the shepherds watching: "Be not afraid; for be- 
hold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all 
the people; for there is born to you this day in the city of 
David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. " 

Third Child. 

When the baby grew up to be a strong, loving man, he 
taught the people, saying: "Suffer the little children, and for- 
bid them not, to come unto me; for to such belongeth the king- 
dom of heaven. " 

Fourth Child. 

And he went about doing good, teaching the people and 
healing the sick. 

Fifth Child. 

But after a while sinful men crucified him, and he was 
buried. 

Sixth Child. 
But the grave could not hold him. He arose from the dead 
on Easter morning! 

Seventh Child. 

When the faithful women came to the tomb, the angel who 

watched spoke to them saying: "Fear not ye; for I know that 

ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for 

he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the 

11 



162 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen 
from the dead. " 

Eighth Child. 

"And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and 
great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And behold, 
Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took 
hold of his feet and worshiped him. " 

Ninth Child. 

And because Jesus lives after death, we shall live also; "for 
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." 

Tenth Child. 

"O grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy 
sting? . . . Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

All the Christian Children. 
This is the message of Easter Day. 

The Syrian Girl. 

The little creatures, the flowers and birds, 
Tried this Easter message to tell in words, 
But a human voice to make it clear 
Was needed, too, if we were to hear. 

Chinese Boy. 

We are ready the Father to love and adore 
And the Saviour, who lives forevermore. 
If the Easter message you knew so well, 
Why didn't you hasten the glad news to tell? 

The Eskimo. 

Leaning forward. 
Why didn't you tell? 



MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 163 

Arab Boy. 

Coming forward. 

If you knew so well! 

Japanese Girl. 
Why didn't you tell? 

Nature's Children creep out from under the covert among the palms, ferns, 
and flowers, and form a group at the stage left near the Foreign Children and 
facing the Christian Children. They speak softly like an echo. 

Nature's Children. 
Why didn't you tell? 

First Violet. 
We did our best in our humble way — 

First Crocus. 
Over and over the message to day — 

First Lily. 
That the whole wide world with joy is rife, 

First Robin. 
For God is Love and Light and Life! 

Second Bunny. 

But we couldn't make them understand 
Without a human voice and hand! 

First Child. 
God's creatures and flowers I'm sure you see, 

Turning to the other children. 
Have been more ready to serve than we. 



164 MISSIONARY ENTERTAINMENTS 



Second Child. 
But now we'll speak the message clear, 
That all beneath the sun may hear. 
His faithful heralds we will be 
Till Christ is known from sea to sea! 

Nature's Children and the Foreign Children draw close to the Christian Chil- 
dren, all singing together the closing hymn, " Easter, " from "Primary and Jun- 
ior Songs." 

Christ the Lord is risen indeed, 
Hallelujah, Hallelujah! 
Amen. 

— By Anita B. Ferris. Copyright, 1917, by H. W. Hicks; used by permission of 
Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada Copies 
of this play may be obtained from Smith & Lamar. Price, 15 cents. 



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